Switzerland to allocate 5 bln Swiss francs for Ukraine's restoration by 2036

MOSCOW. April 10 (Interfax) - The Federal Council of Switzerland made a decision at a meeting on Wednesday to allocate five billion Swiss francs (CHF; $5.35 billion) for the economic development and long-term restoration of Ukraine until 2036 as part of intensifying existing cooperation, Ukrainian media outlets said with a reference to the Swiss governmental website.

"As a first step, around CHF1.5 billion is to be drawn from the international cooperation budget by 2028," the website said.

According to the government, Switzerland has already spent about three billion Swiss francs on support to Ukraine. About 425 million Swiss francs out of this amount were drawn from the international cooperation budget, and the rest, about 2.5 billion Swiss francs, were spent by the State Secretariat for Migration on welcoming and supporting people with protection status in Switzerland.

"Given the Swiss federal government's current financial situation, the Federal Council has proposed a phased approach: the support for Ukraine drawn from the international cooperation budget up to 2028 is to total CHF1.5 billion. [...] For the 2029-2036 period, the Federal Council intends to also look into other sources (beyond international cooperation) from which to draw the remaining CHF3.5 billion," the Federal Council said.