European Commission names conditions for Ukraine to get EUR 1.2 bln in aid

Vice-President of the European Commission, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell says that Ukraine should work with the International Monetary Fund and strengthen the rule of law in order to receive promised macro-financial assistance worth EUR 1.2 billion.

The European Union stands "ready to provide EUR 1.2 billion in macro-financial assistance to help to limit the economic fallout that the coronavirus has created. And Ukraine needs to constructively engage also with International Monetary Fund," Borrell said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Tuesday, September 22, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

Read alsoUkraine's Cabinet, IMF discuss further cooperation, possibility of mission's online workHe said that for Ukraine to receive macro-financial assistance, the government must fulfill all the conditions related to strengthening the rule of law.

Also, EU's top diplomat said the Bloc had provided support to Ukraine in its fight against COVID-19 in the amount of almost EUR 200 million. This is "the largest financial assistance to any of our eastern partners," said Borrell.

He also said that COVID-19 has aggravated the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine.

"And to address specifically this issue, also the European Union, together with the member states, have allocated EUR 155 million. We are the largest provider of humanitarian assistance, but European Union is doing that not because we are a charity or NGO. We are a political institution, and it is in our common interest – when we help Ukraine, we're helping ourselves because we have the strongest interest in having a prosperous, democratic, and stable Ukraine," Borrell said.

EU's financial assistance: background

• The Verkhovna Rada on August 25 ratified the Memorandum of Understanding between Ukraine and the European Union on the receipt of macro-financial assistance amounting to EUR 1.2 billion.
• In accordance with the memo's terms, Ukraine pledged to conduct a competitive selection for the positions of tax and customs chiefs after the end of quarantine, liquidate the State Fiscal Service, and pass at first reading a draft law on a new agency to investigate grave economic and financial crimes.
• On September 14, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed off the memo.