Poroshenko met with Tusk and Juncker on July 13 /Photo from UNIAN
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced Ukraine has discussed with the European Union the possibility of developing a new long-term economic support plan similar to a Marshall Plan, a comprehensive U.S. program of support for Europe after World War II.
"Today we've discussed the possibility of a new long-term plan for support of Ukraine, which was proposed at the European People's Party summit, a kind of a Marshall Plan for Ukraine, as well as the use by Ukraine of funds of the EU's external investment plan," Poroshenko said at a press conference after a meeting with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker on the sidelines of the Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv on Thursday, July 13.
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"This is strong impetus to the implementation of economic, social, sectoral and other reforms, the growth of our common trade and investment," Poroshenko stressed.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman confirmed Ukraine's commitment to the reform program under the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement and proposed negotiating a new bailout program for Ukraine with the EU.
In April 2014, the European Union, which is one of Ukraine's largest lenders and donors, announced its readiness to provide financial assistance to Ukraine to the tune of EUR 11 billion: EUR 1.6 billion in loans, UAH 1.4 billion in grants, EUR 5 billion from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and EUR 3 billion from the European Investment Bank. As part of the credit program, Ukraine has received only EUR 600 million.
In 2015, the EU proposed a new package of macro-financial assistance worth EUR 1.8 billion. Ukraine has already received EUR 1.2 billion under this program.
At the end of March 2017, the Congress of the European People's Party adopted a resolution on the development of a long-term plan for the support of Ukraine, the so-called Marshall Plan for Ukraine.