EU to disburse another 1.5 bln euros of bridge financing to Ukraine under Ukraine Facility next week

MOSCOW. April 18 (Interfax) - Ukraine has met every condition of the second tranche of bridge financing under the Ukrainian Facility in the amount of 1.5 billion euros, Gert Jan Koopman, director general of the European Commission Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, said.

"We will disburse another 1.5 billion euros next week. We have confirmed Ukraine's compliance," Ukrainian media quoted Koopman as saying at the U.S.-Ukrainian Partnership Forum in Washington on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the European Commission approved the Ukraine Plan to serve as a basis for the assistance to Kiev from the EU regular budget under Ukraine Facility until the end of 2027, he said.

"We believe that the underlying plan is sound. It promotes economic growth, [...] it is an ambitious reform plan, so we have submitted it to our member states for approval. The initial reactions have been very positive. I don't foresee any difficulties," the media quoted Koopman, who also serves as a co-chair of the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine.

He mentioned the simultaneous work on launching the Ukraine Facility guarantee instrument, which exceeds 10 billion euros, to attract the private sector and draw over 40 billion euros.

Joint work is being done with international financial institutions to mobilize additional 6 billion euros in investment and to coordinate projects, Koopman said.