EU to pay Kiev new tranche of assistance worth 3.5 bln euros from Ukraine Facility

BRUSSELS. March 17 (Interfax) - The Council of the European Union said it had approved on Monday the third disbursement to Kiev in an amount of some 3.5 billion euros in grants and loans under the Ukraine Facility.

"With this third disbursement, Ukraine will have received close to 20 billion euros under the Ukraine Facility since its entry into force a year ago. The council [of the EU] concluded today that Ukraine had satisfied the necessary conditions laid down in the Ukraine Plan in order to receive a third disbursement from the Ukraine Facility," the Council of the EU said in a release.

"The main objective of the facility is to support Ukraine's macro-financial stability and recovery, reconstruction and modernization," the document said. The Ukraine Plan outlines Kiev's intentions to solve these problems and contains a schedule of reforms that it plans to conduct as part of the process of accession to the EU within the next four years.

According to the Council of the EU, Ukraine has made headway in the implementation of the reforms envisaged by the plan. In particular, it includes reforms to increase the use of renewable energy resources, expansion of the autonomy of the energy regulator, facilitation of border-crossing procedures in keeping with the EU standards, adoption of a strategy to develop agriculture and rural areas, including mine clearance; further work to make a list of strategic and critical mineral resources.

The Ukraine Facility, which took effect on March 1, 2024, is intended for a total amount of up to 50 billion euros of financing in the form of grants and loans to support Ukraine in 2024-2027. Of that amount, up to 32 billion euros is intended for assistance to reforms and investment in accordance with the Ukraine Plan. The disbursements are linked to the observance by Kiev of some of the earlier established conditions.