The European Union transferred €4.36 billion to Ukraine on Thursday under the Ukraine Support Loan credit programme. The correspondent of Yevropeiska Pravda in Brussels learned this from the European Commission, according to her own account. The amount is split into €3.7 billion in macro-financial assistance and €658 million for defence needs.
The €3.7 billion is the second tranche of macro-financial assistance (MFA). The Commission told Yevropeiska Pravda that Ukraine had met all twelve conditions agreed with the EU for it. These include a law on the taxation of income from digital platforms, the abolition of the VAT exemption for small commercial postal consignments and measures to improve tax enforcement.
EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told Yevropeiska Pravda: “By fulfilling the conditions agreed with international partners, Ukraine has shown its unchanged commitment to EU accession and to strengthening its economic resilience. The €4.36 billion transferred today under the Ukraine Support Loan reflects this progress.” The money gives Ukraine more resilience in the war, Dombrovskis added.
Drones, missiles, radars – mainly from Ukrainian production
The €658 million is already the seventh disbursement for defence needs in this programme. According to the Commission, it goes towards the purchase of drones, missiles, radars, electronic warfare systems and ammunition for air defence. The larger part of the money is to be used for equipment from Ukrainian companies.
According to its own account, the Commission had already paid out €2.86 billion on 13 October for drones, air defence, missiles, radars, electronic warfare and ammunition.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the time that while Russia was stagnating at the front, it was escalating its air strikes and cruelly targeting Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.
€25.2 billion available until the end of the year
According to the Commission, €25.2 billion in EU financing will remain accessible to Ukraine until the end of this year. Of this, around €20.9 billion is accounted for by the Ukraine Support Loan – €11.9 billion for expanding the Ukrainian defence industry and €9 billion for budget support. A further almost €4.4 billion in budget support is available under the Ukraine Facility instrument, without the additional funds from the Ukraine Support Loan. Yevropeiska Pravda also reported that the EU was preparing around €8 billion for Ukraine under Ukraine Facility.
According to Yevropeiska Pravda, the Commission had only paid out a further tranche of €2.9 billion under Ukraine Facility on 2 October. Yevropeiska Pravda described in detail which reforms Ukraine had fulfilled for it.
For Ukraine, the money comes in a tense situation: the budget must manage without major new revenues, while the defence industry depends on reliable orders. The fact that a large part of the defence funds is to be spent with Ukrainian firms is likely to have a stronger effect there than pure supplies from abroad. Whether the promised €25.2 billion will actually flow in full this year depends on further conditions that Kyiv still has to meet.
