The ninth package of European Union sanctions on Russia for the war it is waging against Ukraine will be approved in writing on Friday.
The Czech Presidency announced this on its Twitter page.
“Ambassadors agreed in principle on a sanctions package against Russia as part of the EU’s ongoing support for Ukraine. The third Russia sanctions package negotiated under the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union should be confirmed via written procedure tomorrow,” it said.
In accordance with the practice of the EU, initially the decisions that must be further approved by the leaders of the EU are agreed upon at the level of ambassadors of the EU member states. So in this case, before the leaders approved the ninth package of sanctions for Russia, they were agreed upon by the ambassadors, whose Committee meetings were held almost simultaneously with the meeting of the European Council.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called on EU leaders to provide the remaining EUR6 billion of macro-financial assistance by the end of the year, a decision in principle on which was made in late May – early June.
“Thank you for the funds that have already been received, but a decision has not yet been made regarding the remaining 6 billion from this package, which are critically needed this year. And it is in your power to come to an agreement in principle today on providing this assistance to our state” , the President said, speaking on Thursday by video link to members of the European Council.
He also spoke about the need for more support for the implementation of the Ukrainian Fast Recovery Plan.
“You have all this data – what exactly we need. We already have an understanding of the necessary funds. This is 3.5 billion euros this year and about 14 billion euros next year,” Zelensky said.
“And so far we have received zero from these funds. And they are vital. As well as the next tranches of Macrofin for Ukraine are vital,” the head of state stressed.
As reported, in late May-early June, the EU tentatively approved the allocation of new emergency macrofinancial assistance to Ukraine for EUR9 billion, of which EUR1 billion was allocated in early August. The remaining EUR8 billion was expected to come in one tranche, but the final decision on them was delayed. One of the reasons cited is the debate over how these funds should be provided: in the form of loans or grants.
As a result, only EUR2 billion was received this week, while the Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said that the third tranche of EUR3 billion is expected in early December.
The European Union has fully provided Ukraine with the first tranche in the amount of EUR1 billion of new emergency new macro-financial assistance, said the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“These funds will help Ukraine meet its urgent financial needs in the wake of unprovoked and unjustified Russian aggression. The €1 billion will strengthen Ukraine at a critical juncture,” she wrote on Linkedin on Tuesday.
On the eve of the receipt of the first EUR500 million from this tranche in Ukraine, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal announced, adding that the second EUR500 million is expected on Tuesday, August 2.
As reported, the EU has previously approved the allocation of new emergency macrofinancial assistance to Ukraine for EUR9 billion, of which EUR1 billion has been allocated so far. The remaining EUR8 billion is expected to come in one tranche, but the final decision on them is being delayed.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the eve appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron with a request to unblock macrofinancial assistance from the European Union.
The European Union will be able to double the export of Ukrainian electricity this week, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday after an informal meeting of EU energy ministers with their Ukrainian counterpart Herman Galushchenko on the sidelines extraordinary meeting of the EU Energy Council.
“If commercial electricity trading helps Ukraine offset some of the revenue losses, then this is the way forward. We are not waiting for any specific technical conditions to start trading. Trading is already underway,” she stated.
The European Commissioner recalled that the Ukrainian and Moldovan power transmission networks “were synchronized with the European one in record time.”
“I will continue to support the next step of a full-fledged electricity trade with Ukraine. The first commercial cross-border electricity exchange began at the end of June with Romania, and with Slovakia in July. At the moment, the trading capacity is 1,500 megawatts. But European transmission network operators meet on this week and will discuss doubling this amount,” Simson said.
In this regard, the European Commissioner opined that “by doing so, we will also be able to compensate for some of the production of capacities that here in the EU must be produced with gas, most likely gas from Russia.”
“These are mutually beneficial actions. But our cooperation in the future is not only electricity and gas, but you can expect that soon we will be ready to announce future cooperation in the field of clean gases, renewable gases. This is a market that will develop in Europe, and Ukraine has great opportunities to become our trading partner in the coming years,” she explained.
Simson also said that the EU-Ukraine High Level Energy Market Integration Panel will resume work in September, “accelerating the necessary reforms.” “This will be even more important, since Ukraine now has the status of an EU candidate with a clear European perspective,” the European Commissioner said.
In addition, she noted that Ukraine has the largest gas storage facilities in Europe. “And it’s in our joint interest to use them for security purposes,” Simson said.
For his part, Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko noted that Ukraine has the ability to store more than 12 billion gas for European companies in its underground gas storage facilities “in fairly safe places.”
Galushchenko stressed that the Ukrainian gas transportation system could guarantee gas supplies at the level of those volumes that are transported to Europe through Nord Stream 1, “if the Russians close it.”
“Even during the war, we ensured the security of supplies of those volumes that go through the Ukrainian pipeline, and this was our obligation to our European partners. We are fulfilling this obligation,” the Minister of Energy stressed.
As for the export of Ukrainian electricity, according to him, today it is a direct replacement for Russian gas.
“Today we export 100 MW to Europe. But technically we could already increase it to 1.5-1.7 thousand MW, realizing that this can replace up to five to six billion cubic meters of Russian gas with Ukrainian electricity,” he said.
In addition, Galushchenko focused on the behavior of the Russian invaders at the site of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
“What they are doing there is called nuclear terrorism. And therefore, we must be aware that in the 21st century, only one country can behave like a terrorist. And this is a matter of nuclear security. This is not only a matter between Ukraine and Russia, this is a question of the whole world,” the head of the Ministry of Energy stressed.
The European Union intends to adapt its trade policy to the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, focusing on relations with America, but also taking into account the importance of engagement with China.
“Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine is the main, but not the only, factor causing this recalibration,” European Commission (EC) Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said at a press conference on Friday following a meeting of EU trade ministers.
He noted that the European Union continues to provide the necessary support to Ukraine, “making every effort to further isolate Russia.”
He believes that the situation in Ukraine has set a new goal – focusing on transatlantic relations. “And we have made significant strides forward in recent months,” Dombrovskis said, referring to the results of the recent meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC).
According to him, the main conclusion of the TTC was that the key is to remove trade barriers and prevent the emergence of new ones.
“We will also be looking at building more sustainable supply chains for semiconductors. The same goes for critical raw materials, where we are exploring the so-called “friend-shoring” concept,” the European official said.
Among other examples, he named the joint work with the Americans on the standard of chargers for electric vehicles.
Prospects for trade and investment relations between the EU and China, Dombrovskis said, should be viewed against the backdrop of both geopolitical shifts and new challenges to the global economic environment.
“In general, it is clear that the relationship between the EU and China is becoming more complex. But there was also a clear view that engagement with China is important,” he said.
Dombrovskis said the EU would be the strongest supporter of WTO reform. Its trade agreements with external partners should help diversify supply sources and create export opportunities.
“Accordingly, we must seek (within the EU) a new consensus on how to advance our bilateral partnership: it is clear business as usual is not an option,” he said.
The European Union has developed a plan to phase out Russian gas, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said on the Europe 1/CNews TV channel, ZN.ua reports.
“We import 155 billion cubic meters a year from Russia. We will have to get rid of Russian gas… Putin is using gas to divide us, he has done everything for many years to divide Europe,” Breton said.
In 2021, about 45% of EU natural gas imports came from Russia.
According to the European Commissioner, it is necessary to quickly abandon the import of Russian gas. In particular, the EU plans to increase purchases of liquefied natural gas from the US and Qatar, as well as expand the capacity of green energy.
“We developed a plan with my teams,” Breton said.
The new plan will include “50 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas imports from the US or Qatar, an additional 10 billion from existing pipelines, acceleration of offshore wind turbines and photovoltaic panels totaling 25 billion cubic meters,” he said. Restarting coal-fired power plants is also an option under consideration.
