European Parliament approves allocation of 1 billion euros in macro-financial aid to Ukraine
On Wednesday, June 13, the European Parliament (EP) voted to allocate a new program of macro-financial assistance in the amount of 1 billion euros to Ukraine.
Radio Liberty correspondent Rikard Jozwiak reported that 527 members of the EP voted in favor of the aid disbursement, while 124 voted against it.
The first tranche of 500 million euros may be delivered in September.
“The absolute majority of the deputies have just voted in favor of the proposal of the European Commission to allocate a new program of EU macro-financial assistance in the amount of 1 billion euros to Ukraine. I am grateful to all the friends of Ukraine in the European Parliament and European institutions for [their] unity in supporting Ukraine! This is further evidence of our real progress on the track of reforms. Looking forward to the swift adoption of the final decision of the EU Council,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko commented in response to the decision by the European Parliament.
On May 29, 2018, the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union (COREPER), on behalf of the EU Council, approved the allocation of a fourth programme of macro-financial aid for Ukraine, worth 1 billion euros, to be disbursed over a period of two and a half years. The loan is intended to support economic stabilization and a program of structural reforms, supplemented by resources provided by the IMF and other donors. The allocation of macro-financial assistance is tied to progress in the fight against corruption (in particular, to the creation of an Anti-Corruption Court) and to the implementation of IMF programs.
The European Commission allocated 1.61 billion euros to Ukraine within the framework of the first two macro-financial assistance programs, which took place in 2014-2015.
A third program was launched in the summer of 2015 with a first tranche of 600 million euros. A second tranche of the same size was allocated in the spring of 2017. A third was never received because of the authorities' inability to comply with EU requirements.