European Commission has disbursed €4.5 billion macro-financial aid tranche to Ukraine – Borrell

The European Commission has disbursed the first tranche of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine from an extensive support package worth €50 billion.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, noted at a briefing in Brussels that the first tranche, as expected, amounted to €4.5 billion.

"Today we have also made the first payment of €4.5 billion under the Ukraine Facility, our €50 billion package to support recovery, reconstruction and modernisation of Ukraine," Borrell said.

Tomorrow, 21 March, the European Council will discuss how to fast-track Ukraine's accession to the EU, Borrell added.

On 27 February, the European Parliament adopted a tentatively agreed-upon version of the document introducing a new €50 billion four-year support mechanism called the Ukraine Facility. The next day, on 28 February, it was finally approved by the Council of the European Union.

Ukraine is already guaranteed to receive the first two tranches under the Ukraine Facility – €4.5 billion in March and €1.5 billion in April – with the disbursement of the subsequent two tranches being contingent to its success in implementing reforms.