EU allocates a new tranche of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine for 1.5 billion euros

The European Union has allocated another tranche to Kyiv under the expanded program of macro-financial assistance in the amount of 1.5 billion euros, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“Today we are providing Ukraine with another 1.5 billion euros as part of our annual macro-financial assistance package,” she wrote on her Twitter.

The European Union will continue to keep Ukrainian institutions and infrastructure in working condition, as well as help to carry out reforms, the politician added.

Last November, the European Parliament approved a financial assistance package for Ukraine from the European Union for up to 18 billion euros for 2023. Most of this assistance will be allocated in the form of loans with a 10-year grace period, which are planned to be paid quarterly. The amount of 18 billion euros of loans and grants is expected to cover about half of the Ukrainian budget deficit in 2023. The previous tranche to Kyiv was highlighted 21 March.

Against the backdrop of a special operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed large-scale sanctions against the Russian Federation, and also froze Russian assets abroad. In November 2022, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the West had blocked 300 billion euros in the reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. At the same time, she proposed to create an investment fund from these funds, and use the profits for compensation payments to Ukraine.

Earlier in April, the German newspaper Die Welt, citing an internal document, reported that the European Commission had concluded that return after the end of the conflict in Ukraine, the frozen assets of Russia. At the same time, European officials are considering the possibility of investing blocked assets of the Central Bank in European government bonds with an annual yield of 2.6%.