Ukraine – EU’s long-awaited $15 billion package may add to government’s austerity programme
The European Union has promised $15 billion of financial help to Ukraine as the nation tightens its belt amid a looming cash crunch.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters in Brussels on March that the money would come via various instruments over several years.
Ukraine will receive $1.4 billion in the form of loans, paid from the EU budget. Another $2 billion will come as EU grants over the next seven years. The European Investment Bank is to contribute $4.2 billion over 2014-2016 and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is to add $7 billion through 2020.
Meanwhile, Barroso added that the macro-financial aid and some $840 million in new grants can be disbursed “very fast … within a matter of weeks.”
For the full story, please visit The Kyiv Post.
(Photo of Barroso: European Parliament)
