Ukraine receives $1.35 bln in grant aid from U.S

MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Ukraine has received $1.35 billion in grant support from the United States, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said.

"The U.S. Government provided the funding through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and in coordination with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of State," Ukrainian media quoted Shmygal as saying on his social account.

These funds will be directed toward essential humanitarian and social programs, he said.

Ukrainian media quoted the Finance Ministry as saying, "This funding will cover essential social and humanitarian expenditures, in particular for support of maintaining core government functions through the payment of salaries of school employees."

The funding has been transferred to the Ukrainian budget through the World Bank's Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE in Ukraine) Project, it said.

"Since February 2022, direct budget support from the United States has reached $28.2 billion, marking the largest financial assistance to Ukraine from any country in the world," Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko said.

Ukraine expects to receive a total of $7.8 billion in budget support from the U.S. in 2024, of which $5.2 billion has already been disbursed, the ministry said.