EC President: EUR 2 bln out of EUR 5 bln of 2nd part of macro-financial aid to be paid to Ukraine soon
President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen announced that the first installment of EUR 2 billion of the second tranche of the European Commission's macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of EUR 5 billion will be paid in the coming days.
She announced this on Friday in Prague at a press conference that took place after an informal meeting of the European Council.
According to von der Leyen, since the beginning of the war, they have provided EUR 19 billion, excluding their military assistance. And this includes further EUR 2 billion of macro-financial assistance that will be made available in the coming days, she said.
According to the President of the European Commission, the issue of further support to Ukraine was discussed during the meeting of the leaders. She said they discussed Ukraine and how they would support it for as long as it takes... They are not only looking at immediate assistance in the financial aspect, but also at the medium-term one for reconstruction. Supporting Ukraine is the essence of a joint conference that the Commission and the G7 presidency will hold later this month in Berlin. Therefore, it was very good to listen to the leaders on the important issue of Ukraine's reconstruction. What is already quite clear is that they will have to find new sources of funding, as huge sums will be needed. And they will have to establish a very structural approach to guarantee the predictability of funding, transparency on how this will be done of course, and the stability of funding for Ukraine, she explained.
The President of the European Commission also recalled the eighth package of sanctions against Russia, which was adopted on the eve of the informal meeting. It was very encouraging that they were able to reach agreements on a new package of sanctions against Russia. They moved fast and hard. This demonstrates to Putin that the EU is committed to continuing to make sure that he pays for his war of aggression. In parallel, they continue to stand firm with Ukraine. Team Europe – the EU and the member states – the most reliable partners of Ukraine together with the USA, von der Leyen emphasized.
As previously reported, on October 4, EC Executive Deputy President Valdis Dombrovskis signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine on another macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR 5 billion.
