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The European Commission is working on a way to provide Ukraine with around €1.5 billion of budgetary support per month next year, officials with knowledge of the discussion told POLITICO Monday.
The EU in May pledged €9 billion in so-called macro financial assistance to Ukraine, but of that, only €6 billion has received the backing of EU countries, and only €1 billion has been disbursed to date. A discussion on how to provide the remaining €3 billion is ongoing.
“Provision of short term relief in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine has so far been done in an ad-hoc basis,” EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn told a conference in Brussels today.
“In view of the continued need for relief, a more structural solution could be contemplated for a higher degree of predictability, and I’m working hard with [EU countries on a way] that allows us to have more structured, predictable and automated support at least for next year,” Hahn added.
Kyiv estimates its budget gap will be around $3.5 billion per month next year, and the U.S. has pledged to cover $1.5 billion per month, asking allies to do the same.
The Commission is discussing with EU finance ministries how support could be provided. The total figure, as well as how much of would be grants or loans, are still under discussion, officials added. Proposals could come as early as next week, or ahead of conference on Ukraine reconstruction in Berlin on October 25, co-hosted by the German G7 presidency and the Commission.
Source: Politico
