Ukrainian PM submits reform plan to Brussels to secure billion-dollar support from the EU

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal handed over a reform plan to the European Commission on 20 March. The plan envisages that Ukraine will receive payments under the Ukraine Facility program totalling €50 billion, provided that the plan is implemented.

The Cabinet of Ministers adopted the plan, which serves as the basis for providing financial support from the European Union, on 18 March.

"We are marking two important achievements. The first is the reason for your visit to the commission, you are delivering the Ukraine plan. And this is indeed a pivotal moment in our cooperation. Your success in delivering the plan today is all the more impressing since it is only 19 days that the Ukraine Facility entered into force," Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said at the briefing with Shmyhal.

The plan outlines how Ukraine can return to rapid growth and begin rebuilding after the losses caused by the war, noted von der Leyen. She added that the plan combines reforms and investments.

Now the plan will undergo evaluation by the European Commission. "But I am very confident that it will [be evaluated] soon [and] we will be able to make a positive recommendation to the Council to endorse the plan," said von der Leyen.

On 20 March, the European Commission disbursed the first tranche of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine from an extensive support package worth €50 billion. The first tranche, as expected, amounted to €4.5 billion.