Bloomberg: EU to provide Ukraine with another €5bn aid package

The European Union will present another package of financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of 5 billion euros next week, transmits Bloomberg about referring to European officials.

According to sources, EU representatives agreed on the details of the new package at an online meeting on Friday, and also agreed to continue developing a mechanism for providing Ukraine with the remaining €3 billion in macroeconomic assistance.

“Germany, the largest aid donor, still disagrees with the commission, as Berlin insists on providing Ukraine with non-refundable grants, arguing that an increase in debt will further undermine the economy close to default,” the source said.

The executive body of the EU, in turn, insisted on the provision of soft loans with higher guarantees provided by member states in the event of a default of the Ukrainian economy.

In early August, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the European Union was “artificially delaying” financial assistance to Ukraine for 8 billion euros. He noted that the citizens of Ukraine, in particular pensioners and teachers, depend on budget payments, and called on EU countries not to make Ukrainians “hostages of indecision or bureaucracy.”

The head of the Ministry of Finance of the country, Serhiy Marchenko, also reported that the amount of financial assistance received by Ukraine from foreign donors in August amounted to $4.6 billion, which was a record high since February. The funds received were enough to cover all budget expenditures, he added.

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