The European Commission has approved the allocation of EUR 500 million of the first tranche of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.
This is stated in a message on the European Commission website, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
“The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, today approved the allocation of the first EUR 500 million of the program of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine,” the statement reads.
It is noted that Ukraine has fulfilled its political commitments to receive the first tranche, which the EU considers important evidence of the continuation of reforms in the country, despite the current security situation and the upcoming elections.
In general, the new program of macro-financial assistance provides for EUR 1 billion.
After the payment of the first tranche, the amount of assistance provided to Ukraine from the EU since 2014 will amount to EUR 3.3 billion.
President Petro Poroshenko on his page on Facebook thanked the European Commission for the decision, calling it an important signal of EU support for Ukraine in the face of recent challenges from Russia.
The Ministry of Finance, in turn, reported that in order to receive macro-financial assistance from the EU, Ukraine must fulfill the requirements put by the European Union.
This list includes reforms in a wide range of sectors of the economy and public administration - from the public finance management system to the reform of energy sector and tax system.
The European Union provides macro-financial support to Ukraine in the form of loans.
The exact interest rate of the tranche will be known when the European Commission enters the foreign borrowing market, but it will not exceed 2%.
The funds will go to the state budget.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in mid-October, Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund agreed on a new Stand by program with the requested amount of USD 3.9 billion.
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