Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz announced the allocation of humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the amount of $400 million, the official SPA news agency reported on Saturday following his phone talk with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky the day before.
The Crown Prince emphasized “the Kingdom’s position of supporting everything that will contribute to de-escalation, and the Kingdom’s readiness to continue the efforts of mediation,” SPA reported.
In turn, Zelensky congratulated the crown prince for his appointment as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, and expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Kingdom for its vote for the UNGA resolution, along with 142 other countries, condemning Russia’s decision to annex.
Ben Salman stressed that the Kingdom’s vote for the resolution emanates from its commitment to the deep rooted principles in the UN charter and international law, and its commitment to the respect of state sovereignty and the principles of good neighborliness, and resolving conflicts by peaceful means.
The President of Ukraine said the two leaders had agreed to work towards the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russian troops. The Saudi Crown Prince played a prominent role in mediating efforts in September that successfully led to the release of 10 prisoners of war, including two Americans.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that the state budget has received a $1.5 billion grant from the United States from the World Bank Trust Fund.
“The state budget received a grant in the amount of $1.5 billion. This is the last tranche of $4.5 billion from the United States from the World Bank Trust Fund,” Shmygal wrote on Twitter.
According to him, the funds will be used to reimburse budgetary expenses for pension payments and social assistance programs.
The prime minister thanked US President Joseph Biden for supporting Ukraine.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the attraction of another grant from the United States in the amount of $4.5 billion, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“The Cabinet of Ministers will approve the attraction of another grant from the United States in exchange for $4.5 billion, ” Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Tuesday.
According to the Prime Minister, this is a clear demonstration that the allies continue to help Ukraine bring victory closer.
Shmyhal said that the funds would be received through a fund created by the World Bank.
A grant from the Federal Republic of Germany in the amount of EUR1 billion went to the state budget of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine reported on Friday.
“The grant funds were transferred to the state budget through a special administrative account opened by the International Monetary Fund to send money from donor countries to help Ukraine,” the ministry said in a press release.
According to him, the proceeds will be used to finance priority budget expenditures during martial law.
In total, since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has already received EUR1.3 billion from Germany to support the financial and budgetary system, the Finance Ministry said.
Earlier this week, the Treasury announced that it had received a EUR446.8 million loan from the World Bank (WB) with a UK guarantee for EUR424.6 million, a US grant of $1.3 billion through a WB multi-donor account, and a loan from Japan for the equivalent of about $500 million.
In April 2022, the IMF decided to create an administrative account for crediting funds as part of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) from donor countries in favor of Ukraine. All funds raised using this account should be used to maintain the financial stability of Ukraine in the form of grants or credits (loans).
Germany became the second country to use this tool, after Canada, which provided a concessional loan of 1 billion Canadian dollars (the equivalent of $773 million) in the first half of June.
The government estimates the budget’s monthly deficit financing needs at $5 billion. Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko previously predicted that international financial support for Ukraine would increase to $4.8 billion in June from $1.5 billion in May, and thanks to funds received at the end of the month, it was close to this amount. According to the head of the Ministry of Finance, in July the government expects to maintain the same significant volumes of external financing as in June. In particular, the second tranche of a US grant of approximately $1.3 billion and an EU loan of EUR1 billion are expected to arrive.
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, which received the first grant from the United States on June 29 as part of a $7.5 billion state budget financing package, expects the next tranche to arrive in July.
“The support of our partners accelerates Ukraine’s victory. We have just received the first grant from the United States – $1.3 billion. We expect the next grant from the United States in July,” Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko wrote on Thursday night.
He clarified that the funds were received through the mechanism of the World Bank’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund as part of additional financing for the project “Public Expenditure Support to Ensure Sustainable Public Administration in Ukraine.”
Marchenko thanked the teams of the World Bank, the government, the Ministry of Finance and the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States for their well-coordinated work and the opportunity to receive these funds as quickly as possible.
In May, the US Congress passed a bill on the allocation of assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $40 billion, including $7.5 billion to finance the state budget.
Germany will allocate EUR1 billion in grant funding to Ukraine for priority government spending, the corresponding agreement between the governments was signed on June 24, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko told
“I thank my friend German Finance Minister Christian Lindner for the speed in implementing this important decision. This financial support is more important than ever and will bring our victory closer,” the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance wrote on Facebook.
Earlier it was reported that these funds from Germany, presumably, will be provided through a special account administered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In April 2022, the IMF decided to create an administrative account for crediting funds as part of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) from donor countries in favor of Ukraine. All funds raised using this account should be used to maintain the financial stability of Ukraine in the form of grants or credits (loans).
