UK to provide Ukraine with $500 mln loan guarantees

The UK will provide financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $500 million in loan guarantees to mitigate the economic consequences of Russian criminal activities, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said following a meeting with British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.

"Rishi Sunak supported my earlier call for the urgent provision of part of the partner countries' resources to Ukraine for the needs of the Ukrainian budget. This will allow the government to continue to carry out all protected spending and social programs," the minister said.

According to him, he received assurances of the UK's readiness to join efforts to attract other countries and financial institutions to two new financial support mechanisms for Ukraine - the World Bank Trust Fund and the IMF special account to receive Special Drawing Rights (SDR) previously distributed by the fund.