Ukraine receives another €3.5bn from EU under extensive aid programme
The European Commission has transferred €3.5 billion to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility on Tuesday 1 April. Shmyhal noted that these funds will help the country to further maintain macroeconomic stability.
"The European Commission has noted our country's commitment to implementing reforms on the path to full EU membership," Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Shmyhal added that the total financial assistance under the Ukraine Facility has reached €19.6 billion.
Ukraine's Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko explained that of the €3.5 billion received, €3.1 billion came in concessional loans and €400 million in grants. These funds will support key budget priorities and essential expenditures.
Svyrydenko mentioned that the funding had been granted after Ukraine had fulfilled all the requirements of the Ukraine Plan for the fourth quarter of 2024, covering 13 indicators such as aligning Ukrainian legislation with European standards, advancing digital transformation and strengthening energy independence.
"We fulfilled a total of 36 indicators last year. This is the first time in the history of Ukraine that all the indicators of the reform programme set for the year have been fulfilled. Our goal for this year is even more ambitious: to fulfil 56," she added.
In 2024, the G7 reached an agreement to jointly provide Ukraine with a US$50 billion loan derived from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets. The funds will be formally supplied as a loan but will be repaid using these proceeds.
On 20 March, the European Commission disbursed an additional €1 billion tranche to Ukraine.
On the same day, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis stated that the EU would continue to financially support Ukraine in 2025 using the proceeds from frozen Russian assets and the Ukraine Facility programme.
The Ukraine Facility programme, which came into force on 1 March 2024, provides up to €50 billion in stable funding in the form of grants and loans to support Ukraine's recovery, rebuilding and modernisation for the period from 2024 to 2027.