EC pays further 1.5B euro in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine
The European Commission (EC) paid on March 21 a second instalment of 1.5 billion euro under the up to 18 billion euro Macro-financial Assistance (MFA) ‘Plus’ package for Ukraine, the EC said in a statement.
“With this instrument, the EU seeks to help Ukraine cover its immediate funding needs, with stable, predictable and sizeable financial support in 2023,” the EC said.
The statement said that this support would help Ukraine to keep on paying salaries and pensions and maintain essential public services running, such as hospitals, schools, and housing for relocated people.
It would also allow Ukraine to ensure macroeconomic stability and restore critical infrastructure destroyed by Russia in its war of aggression, such as energy infrastructure, water systems, transport networks, roads and bridges, the statement said.
It said that the March 21 payment was made after the EC found that Ukraine had made satisfactory progress towards implementing the agreed policy conditions and complied with reporting requirements, which aim to ensure the transparent and efficient use of the funds.
“Ukraine achieved important progress to strengthen the rule of law through the appointment of a new Head of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine,” the statement said.
Financial stability is enhanced thanks to progress towards better supervision of state-owned banks, the EC said.
The functioning of the gas system will be improved thanks to the selection of a supervisory board of Naftogaz and there will be a better business climate thanks to simpler licencing and permitting requirements.
A first payment of three billion euro under this package was made in January 2023.
The EC said that it would continue to disburse its financial support for Ukraine to the tune of 1.5 billion euro a month throughout the rest of 2023.
The total MFA support, including the March 21 payment, paid out to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s war of aggression has reached 11.7 billion euro, the EC said.
The funds have been made available to Ukraine in the form of highly concessional loans.
Overall, since the start of the war, the support to Ukraine and Ukrainians amounts to about 67 billion euro, the EC said.
This includes financial, humanitarian, emergency budget, and military support to Ukraine from the EU, member states and the European financial institutions, as well as resources made available to help member states cater for needs of Ukrainians fleeing the war in the EU.
(Photo: Filippo Vicarelli/freeimages.com)
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