On Friday 20 May, meeting in Petersberg under the German Presidency, the finance ministers of the G7 countries pledged to mobilise a total of $19.8 billion in direct budget support for Ukraine, in order to help the country, which is facing Russian military aggression, to honour its financial commitments in 2022.
“We agreed that Ukraine’s financial situation must have no influence on its ability to defend itself successfully”, said Germany’s minister of finance Christian Lindner after the meeting. The day before, he had announced direct support from Germany to the tune of €1 billion.
The United States is expected to contribute $7.5 billion, while the European Commission suggested on Wednesday that €9 billion of European aid in the form of loans (see EUROPE 12955/2) be provided, which the ‘Ecofin’ Council will discuss on Tuesday 24 May.
In their communiqué, the G7 countries state that this budgetary support is being provided in addition to recent announcements of Western military and humanitarian aid to the Ukrainians.
The IMF estimates Ukraine’s budgetary needs at around $5 billion per month.
See the G7 statement: https://aeur.eu/f/1rg
On Friday, the Commission announced that it had disbursed to the Ukrainian authorities the second instalment of €600 million from the sixth macrofinancial assistance package to Ukraine since 2014, worth €1.2 billion (see EUROPE 12914/4).
In its communiqué, the EU institution justifies its decision to proceed with the urgent payment of this instalment by stating that the Russian invasion constitutes a case of force majeure having prevented the Ukrainian government from carrying out the structural reforms (consolidation of public finances, opening up of the markets, fighting corruption, judicial independence) whose implementation is a condition for the granting of the aid. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)