The European Commission (EC) has approved a EUR 1.2bn macro-financial assistance programme for Ukraine, the EC’s chairwoman, Ursula von der Leyen, said on February 1. The money will be transferred to Kiev in two tranches of €600m immediately after the programme is approved by the European Parliament and the EU Council
“I urge the European Parliament and the EU Council to approve this decision as soon as possible so that we can transfer the first €600 million tranche of aid as soon as possible”, – she said.
According to the European Commission’s statement, the funds will be made available in the form of long-term loans on concessional terms. It should be noted that the bulk of the funds provided as part of the EU macrofinancial assistance programmes will be used to service Ukraine’s external public debt.
At that, the second credit tranche of €600 mil. under this program is to be provided to Ukraine within a year, only “after evaluation of the Ukrainian government’s actions in some key directions”.