EU finance ministers on Tuesday 12 July formally approved a new €1 billion macro-financial assistance package from the European Union to help Ukraine, which is in the grip of a Russian military invasion, to meet its financial commitments (see EUROPE 12984/16).
This assistance is part of an aid package announced in May that could amount to “up to €9 billion”, said European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis after the Ecofin Council (see EUROPE 12955/2).
The aid of €1 billion will be distributed in a single tranche in the form of a 25-year term soft loan. It is conditional on the Ukrainian authorities respecting effective democratic mechanisms (parliamentary pluralism, rule of law) and human rights.
According to Mr Dombrovskis, the loan will be disbursed before “the summer break”. Asked about the deadline for the presentation of the rest of the announced aid, the Vice-President mentioned discussions between Member States on the granting of “national guarantees”, as the margins on the EU budget are not sufficient to guarantee this aid which is “exceptional because of the financial risk and the amounts involved”.
In the autumn, work will continue under the Czech Presidency of the EU Council on the reconstruction of Ukraine, following the Lugano Conference (see EUROPE 12985/11). Discussions are mainly scheduled to take place at the informal meeting of EU finance ministers on 9-10 September in Prague, at an informal EU summit in Prague on 6-7 October and possibly at a donors’ conference in November.
See the legislative proposal for macro-financial assistance to Ukraine: https://aeur.eu/f/2lq (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)