EU economy, finance ministers discuss aid to Kiev

BRUSSELS. July 8 (Interfax) - Financial aid to Ukraine was discussed at a meeting of the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels on Tuesday, European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said at a press conference.

"As regards financing, we are on track. Approximately 17 billion euros have now been disbursed to Ukraine under the G7 ERA loan initiative, with the latest contribution worth 1.4 billion euros coming from Canada. We expect the EU's next one-billion-euro payment will take place this week, bringing the total value of EU disbursements under the ERA initiative to 8 billion euros," Dombrovskis said.

"The next payment under the Ukraine Facility is scheduled for mid-August," he added.

Dombrovskis said that he would attend a conference on Ukraine reconstruction this week "to discuss Ukraine's future financing and defense needs."

"Our message is clear. Ukraine is not only defending itself but all of Europe [...] Last night we held an informal discussion on defense spending for Europe and Ukraine. Specifically, we discussed how to increase defense investments in a context of NATO 5% of the GDP target and our instruments for this, including fiscal flexibility and the SAFE instrument [EU defense funding of 150 billion euros]," Dombrovskis said.