At an extraordinary meeting on Friday 4 March, the Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) granted an initial support of €668 million to help Ukraine meet its most urgent financial needs.
This aid, which will be available within three days thanks to the release of funds available under two loans initially granted to support SMEs and the agricultural sector in Ukraine, will be used in particular for “the purchase of food, medical supplies and fuel for citizens”, according to a statement from the European institution.
The day before, at the European Summit of Regions and Cities in Marseille (see other news), EIB President Werner Hoyer detailed a series of actions to help Ukraine, worth more than €1.5 billion, announced on Wednesday to EU finance ministers (see EUROPE 12902/1).
He had explained that the EIB was going to repurpose €1.3 billion to address reconstruction needs in the areas of transport, energy, urban development and digital infrastructure. “This can be done very quickly, as soon as the Ukrainian authorities are able to sign the amendments to the existing contracts”, he said.
Helping Ukraine’s neighbouring countries cope with the influx of refugees
In addition, the EIB will present humanitarian, social and economic measures to help Ukraine’s neighbouring regions deal with the massive influx of refugees from Ukraine.
“We learned a lot from the implementation of Ukraine’s Early Recovery Plan, with 246 projects funded after the 2014 conflict, mainly in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Our energy is not exhausted by frustration and devastation”, said Hoyer. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)