The European Parliament has backed the European Commission's proposal that EUR 1.2 billion be lent to Ukraine as macro-financial assistance (MFA) to overcome the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
This decision was announced at a plenary meeting in Brussels on May 15.
Some 547 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted for the decision, 93 were against and 47 abstained.
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This decision was passed with the use of an expedited procedure, because MEPs were working remotely over restrictive measures amid the coronavirus crisis.
The MEPs approved the European Commission's proposal to provide a EUR 3 billion package in MFA to ten enlargement and neighborhood partners to help them to limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
The MFA funds will be made available for 12 months in the form of loans on favorable terms and will be distributed to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Tunisia, and Ukraine.
Of this amount, EUR 1.2 billion will be lent to Ukraine.
The funds will be allocated in two tranches. The maximum loan repayment term is 15 years. Also, this assistance will become possible if a memorandum of understanding is signed, which must be agreed upon by each partner country and the European Commission.
Together with the International Monetary Fund's support, the funds can contribute to enhancing macroeconomic stability and creating space to allow resources to be allocated towards protecting citizens and mitigating the coronavirus pandemic's negative socio-economic consequences.
Also, this decision must be approved by the Council of the European Union before it enters into force.
On May 5, the ambassadors of all EU member countries backed the allocation of the MFA package.
