Ukraine to receive next tranche as part of Ukraine Facility's 50 bln eur before year-end - von der Leyen

MOSCOW. Oct 18 (Interfax) - The next tranche as part of the Ukraine Facility program envisaging allocating up to 50 billion euros to Ukraine for 2024-2027 will be provided to Kiev before the end of the year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

She said it at a press conference following a meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Thursday, Ukraine media outlets reported.

"We will help Ukraine to reconstruct, and we are accompanying Ukraine on its path to the European Union accession. [...] We had the first intergovernmental conference in June. So, Ukraine took a huge step forward, the bilateral screening process is now ongoing, and in parallel, we have the Ukraine plan that includes crucial reforms for this accession path. And it is supported by the 50 billion [euros] in the Ukraine plan that are delivered on the achievement of the reforms. So, it is a 50-billion investment over four years, 2024 to 2027. And we see a lot of progress, thanks to this progress we have already dispersed over 12 billion euros, and we expect another tranche to be dispersed before the end of the year. So, there is good progress," von der Leyen said.

She did not disclose the amount of the tranche.

On February 6, 2024, the European Parliament and the European Council reached a political agreement on the Ukraine Facility proposed by the European Commission in June 2023. On March 20, the European Commission provided Ukraine will the first 4.5 billion euros in pre-financing as part of the facility. On April 24, the European Commission allocated the second tranche to Ukraine in the amount of 1.5 billion euros. On June 28, Kiev received additional 1.9 billion euros in pre-financing as part of the Ukraine Facility, and on August 13, the Commission paid Ukraine nearly 4.3 billion euros as part of the first regular payment under the Ukraine Facility program. Therefore, the total amount of the EU's support already provided to Ukraine as part of the program reached 12.2 billion euros.