The Council of the European Union has approved a proposal of the European Commission to provide EUR 1.2 billion of micro-financial assistance to help Ukraine to cope with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The respective decision was taken on May 20 under the written procedure during sitting of the EU Council.
It is expected that after this Kyiv and Brussels will begin negotiations regarding the future Memorandum, which should specify the conditions for the allocation of the second tranche. Further, the Memorandum should be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, after which Ukraine will receive the first tranche in the amount of EUR 600 million, which is unconditional. The horizontal condition for obtaining macro-financial assistance is mandatory cooperation with the IMF.
On May 15, European Parliament backed the commission’s proposal.
