REUTERS
Ukraine needs the European Commission's macro-financial assistance to support reforms and economic stability.
Ukraine's Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk has assured members of the European Parliament (MEPs) that prior to the approval of a new macro-financial assistance program, Ukraine is now working to fulfill the requirements of the previous program that have not been met.
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"We are focused on meeting the conditions that have not been met for the previous disbursement so that we are ready to fulfill them before a new program is approved," Danyliuk said at a meeting of the EP Committee on International Trade in Brussels on April 24.
According to the minister, the support of the European Parliament is "important for the progress of the reform agenda." "We are committed to reform. We need macro-financial assistance to support reforms and economic stability in the country," he stressed.
He also noted that the assistance "needs to arrive at the beginning of autumn." "I'm asking for your support," the minister told the MEPs.
The European Commission is actively supporting Ukraine financially. Since the outbreak of the crisis in early 2014, the Commission has disbursed a total of EUR 2.8 billion in macro-financial assistance (MFA) through three consecutive programs of low-interest loans. This represents the highest amount ever made available by the EU to a third partner. Out of the EUR 2.8 billion, EUR 1.6 billion was disbursed in 2014-2015 under the first two MFA operations (MFA I and II), while EUR 1.2 billion was released in 2015-2017 under the third MFA program (MFA III).
In March 2018, the European Commission adopted a proposal to provide an additional EUR 1 billion in MFA to Ukraine to cover the country's external financing needs and support accelerated reform implementation. This proposal is now pending approval of the European Parliament and the Council.