Taking into account the G7 countries’ confirmed contributions to bilateral loans for the benefit of Ukraine totalling $50 billion in 2025, the European Union’s contribution will be revised downwards to €18.12 billion ($19.6 billion), the European Commission confirmed in a press release on Saturday 26 October.
Meeting in Washington on the sidelines of the autumn meetings of the international financial organisations, the G7 countries’ finance ministers finalised the terms of these preferential loans (low interest rate, maturity of at least 30 years), which will be pledged against the future profits generated by Russian sovereign assets immobilised in the EU.
The approximate breakdown of contributions will be as follows: $20 billion each from the EU and the United States and $10 billion for the combined contribution from the United Kingdom ($2.93 billion), Canada ($3.6 billion) and Japan ($3.1 billion).
See the precise terms of the loans from the G7 countries: https://aeur.eu/f/e1w
The United States has taken its decision, even though the EU has not decided, as requested of it by the United States, to extend from 6 to 36 months the duration of the sanctions targeting Russian sovereign assets frozen in the EU. Wishing to wait for the outcome of the US elections in early November, Hungary is blocking this extension, which requires a unanimous decision by the EU Council (see EUROPE 13500/27).
The bilateral loans from the G7 countries must come into effect by the end of June 2025 at the latest, and will be fully disbursed between the beginning of December 2024 and the end of 2027. On the European side, the objective is to finalise the legislative texts relating to macrofinancial assistance so that the first payments can be made before the end of 2024 (see EUROPE 13509/10).
According to the leaders of the G7 countries, the macrofinancial aid will be used to support Ukraine’s public finances, as well as its war effort and reconstruction of its infrastructure, particularly its energy infrastructure.
See the statement by the leaders of the G7 countries: https://aeur.eu/f/e1p
See the specific G7 finance ministers’ statement: https://aeur.eu/f/e1o
Russian oil. In a statement adopted at the end of their meeting, the G7’s top financial leaders said they were prepared to take “further initiatives” to deal with breaches of the 2022 cap on Russian oil exports (see EUROPE 13037/2). In particular, they are considering measures to increase costs for Russia, which is circumventing oil sanctions by using a ‘shadow’ fleet, some of which is already subject to European sanctions (see EUROPE 13438/3).
More generally, the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors want to redouble their efforts to prevent the financial system from helping the Kremlin to circumvent the sanctions Russia has been facing since its military aggression against Ukraine.
See the specific G7 finance ministers and central bank governors’ statement: https://aeur.eu/f/e1q (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)