EU confirms cutting off financing of projects on modernizing Ukrainian crossing checkpoints
The European Union has officially confirmed that it has stopped funding the projects that would have reinvigorated several crossing checkpoints at the western state border of Ukraine and that Ukraine must return the unused funds.
This was said in an official statement provided by the European Commission to the Eurointegration news media at the media’s request. The information was also confirmed to the media by several sources within the EU. EU Press Secretary Maya Kocijancic confirmed that the EU stopped funding the projects for which the EU was to transfer to Ukraine EUR 29.2 million.
“There are six projects in European financing worth a total of EUR 29.2 million for which the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine was the main beneficiary. Based on our estimation and taking into account feedback and reports from other EU member states, we have concluded that those projects could not be completed in time, especially considering that their implementation so far has been behind schedule. Those six projects are in the process of unwinding, and the unused money allocated for their implementation must be returned [into accounts of the European Commission],” the EU Press Secretary said.
The media also said, citing a source in Brussels, that the decision of the European Union to end the projects was final contrary to Ukrainian fiscal officials’ reports.
“The decision to close down the projects is final. It was carefully weighed and is based on proper assessment,” the Brussels official explained. He also said that during the period allocated for the implementation of the said projects, Ukraine received from the EU one third of the total funding designated under the projects, approximately EUR 10 million, most of which remains unused.
According to a preliminary assessment, Kyiv has spent approximately EUR 2 million, meaning Ukraine is liable for roughly EUR 8 million in the back payments to the EU. Therefore, the total amount of the funding offered to but not employed by Ukraine amounts to roughly EUR 27 million.
On February 20, Reuters reported that the European Union scrapped a program of financing to Ukraine worth EUR 29.2 million for the reinvigoration of six crossing checkpoints at the Ukrainian border with Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
The State Fiscal Service of Ukraine stated that it has not received a notification about ending the border projects from the EU. It posted a report about the stage of implementation for each of the projects.