EU disburses 600M euro macro-financial assistance to Ukraine

The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, disbursed 600 million euro in Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) to Ukraine on May 20, the Commission said.

“Following Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion, this urgent financial support helps Ukraine address its acute financing gap related to its exceptional humanitarian and defence needs,” the European Commission said.

The first instalment of 600 million euro from this emergency Macro-Financial Assistance operation was disbursed in two tranches on March 11 and 18.

The Commission said that the disbursement follows an assessment of the authorities’ progress with implementing the structural policy measures agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding.

“The Commission has concluded that the authorities, overall, have taken action towards the implementation of the agreed conditionality,” the statement said.

“However, the current war circumstances constitute an event of force majeure that impedes the effective completion of the structural policy measures.”

As an exceptional response to the acute financing needs of Ukraine, and since the conditionality cannot be achieved at this stage for reasons of force majeure, the Commission decided to proceed with the disbursement of the second tranche as a matter of urgency, the Commission said.

Since the Russian aggression started, the EU has significantly stepped up its support, mobilising about 4.1 billion euro to support Ukraine’s overall economic, social and financial resilience.

On May 18, the Commission set out plans in a Communication for the EU’s immediate response to address Ukraine’s financing gap, as well as the longer-term reconstruction framework, envisaging to propose granting Ukraine in 2022 additional macro-financial assistance in the form of loans of up to nine billion euro.

(Photo: EC Audiovisual Service)

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