The European Investment Bank (EIB), which already approved a EUR668 million immediate financial support package for Ukraine on March 4, may increase assistance and develop an additional support package for the country’s reconstruction after the war end, bank president Werner Hoyer said.
“We are working hard to provide more support — I envisage a package for a total of EUR2 billion from the EIB — for critical infrastructure and to rebuild what the Russian army has knocked down, in a free and independent Ukraine. We also hope to announce in the coming days further financing to support Ukraine’s neighbors in and outside the European Union as they offer shelter and protection to refugees fleeing war,” he said.
“The European Investment Bank made the first two disbursements totaling EUR129 million to the government of Ukraine for the most urgent needs. These funds are part of the EIB’s Ukraine Solidarity Urgent Response of which EUR668 million was approved by the EIB Board of Directors on March 4. The financing benefits from the EU guarantee under the External Lending Mandate and complements other initiatives announced by EU institutions,” the report says.
“We are grateful to the European Investment Bank for close cooperation and efficient use of existing mechanisms to support Ukraine in these difficult times. We appreciate the swift actions, which allowed us to get essential funds for meeting the country’s urgent financial needs. We also hope to discuss new projects aimed at rebuilding economic and social infrastructure in the country in the near future,” Ukraine’s Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.
EU macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR 1.2 billion, in providing which France has taken an active part, will be used to stabilize the Ukrainian economy, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Economic support is very important, and we really appreciate such a step of solidarity with other states, a powerful step on the part of Emmanuel, on the part of France – the allocation of EUR 1.2 billion in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. This will really help us stabilize our economy. We are already doing well, but this is a powerful step for the economic sustainability of Ukraine,” Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Macron on Tuesday in Kyiv.
Ukraine will provide assistance to Moldova with gas supplies, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov said.
“We decided to instruct the Cabinet of Ministers to consider this issue. We understand that we can do such assistance to the Republic of Moldova in the near future,” Danilov said at a briefing on Friday following the results of the NSDC meeting.
According to him, Prime Minister of Moldova Natalia Gavrilița has made such a request to the Ukrainian government.
“The Prime Minister of Ukraine received a letter from his colleague with a request to help with gas in order to avoid a difficult situation, which has developed taking into account the blackmail that Gazprom is doing there,” Danilov said.
Later, he said that it would be gas on credit, not for money, and then Moldova would return the supplied resource. According to him, this must be done, since Ukraine and Moldova are united, and there are territories in Ukraine that are supplied with gas from Moldova.
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.
The French government has allocated technical assistance to the Ukrainian state concern Ukroboronprom in the amount of about EUR 900,000 Aivaras Abromavičius, director general of the state concern, has said.
“This is a sign of confidence in Ukraine, it is a sign of confidence in the changes that are taking place now in the Ukroboronprom concern … This is an amount close to EUR 900,000, one of the largest amounts that the French government has allocated to Ukraine,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to Abromavičius, this assistance will be used to fight corruption and raise corporate governance standards.
“France’s technical assistance will be directed in two main areas. This is, firstly, the anti-corruption area, and secondly, the improvement of corporate governance standards. In the area of anti-corruption policy, we plan to carry out a comprehensive criminalistics, so-called forensic, audit on some processes, contracts, which, unfortunately, the financial audit does not have the opportunity to reach,” he said.
He said that the forensic audit reveals hidden schemes and frauds that look like legitimate transactions, but are actually fraudulent, and there have been a lot historically in the concern.
Abromavičius stressed that the allocated funds would help build the best corporate governance standards in Ukroboronprom, according to Western standards.
“Within the project, we plan to develop new principles of corporate governance both at enterprises and at the concern itself. This is a large-scale project that requires time, which requires not only our efforts, but, as I said, the support of international partners. Branches of government will be involved, as well as Ukroboronprom partners themselves,” he added.
Abromavičius said that the French Embassy in Ukraine would choose a consultant company from the Big Four, and it will help find the best model for organizing a business.
“That is, we are starting to build a modern company,” he stressed.
According to Abromavičius, the forensic audit process should take four months.
“But, unfortunately, this information will be more for the leadership of the country, for the leadership of Ukroboronprom and for law enforcement agencies,” he said.
NATO member countries should actively help Ukraine, said Secretary General of the Alliance Jens Stoltenberg on Monday.
I urge all allies to provide more assistance to Ukraine in practice, he said during his speech in London.
Speaking about Kyiv’s desire for rapprochement with NATO, Stoltenberg noted that the reforms that Ukraine urgently needs will play an important role in this regard.
