The president of the European Commission announced this Sunday to the president of Ukraine, the proposal to support his country, with loans of 1,500 million euros per month, up to a total of 18,000 million euros, during 2023.
In a statement, the European Commission (EC) reported that the telephone conversation between the two leaders, Ursula von der Leyen and Volodymir Zelensky, focused on how to “guarantee financial support for Ukraine in the coming months” due to the importance, recognized by both, to “ensure predictable funding and regulate essential state functions.”
“President von der Leyen informed President Zelensky that this week she will propose a major EU financial package, of up to €1.5 billion per month, for a total of up to €18 billion, which would significantly contribute to meeting the needs Ukraine’s financial institutions by 2023,” the EC stressed.
He added that the money is going to kyiv in the form of long-term loans on very favorable terms and covering interest costs, and the goal is also to serve “to support Ukraine’s reforms and its path to EU membership.” .
The leaders of the 27 spoke at their last meeting, two weeks ago, about the possibility of granting this monthly amount to Ukraine, which informed them that it needs approximately “between three and four billion euros per month”, in order to have “sufficient resources for the basics.”
“The EU financial package will have to be accompanied by similar support from other large donors,” stressed the Community Executive, which has also confirmed “work in progress” to continue providing immediate humanitarian aid, especially during the winter, and that “The EU is ready to support Ukraine in the long term.”
In addition, the EU hopes to continue this year’s payment of the macro-financial assistance of nine billion promised to kyiv.
Since the beginning of the year, the country has received a total support, at European level, of 19,000 million euros.
In the phone conversation, von der Leyen and Zelensky also discussed Ukraine’s agricultural exports and the agreement on the Black Sea Grains Initiative to continue allowing food outflows.
They also discussed plans to expand the capacities of the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Routes, used so far to transport the vast majority of Ukraine’s agricultural and non-agricultural exports since the beginning of the war, and on strengthening sanctions against Moscow. for the invasion, as well as Iran’s support for Russian aggression and its responses.
Source: TSF
