European Parliament backs EC's proposal to allocate 1 billion euros in first tranche of new macro-financial aid for Ukraine

MOSCOW/BRUSSELS. July 7 (Interfax) - The European Parliament has voted in favor of the European Commission's proposal to allocate Ukraine one billion euros in the first tranche of a new macro-financial assistance for the country.

The relevant vote took place during a plenary session of the European Parliament on Thursday, Ukrainian media reported.

After that the decision should be formalized by the European Council.

The issue of allocating these funds to Ukraine was put on the European Parliament's agenda under an urgent procedure so that the tranche could be allocated before the summer break, as European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said earlier, speaking at the International Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland's Lugano on July 4.

"We are now working on providing a further 9 billion euros in new exceptional macro-financial assistance. The first part will come before summer break. It is 1 billion euros. After endorsement by the European Parliament and EU Member States," Dombrovskis said.

As reported, on July 1, the European Commission proposed a new package of macro-financial assistance for Ukraine worth 1 billion euros. This is the first part of an exceptional macro-financial assistance package of up to 9 billion euros announced by the European Commission on May 18, 2022 and approved by the European Council at the EU summit on June 23-24, 2022.

The proposal is part of an emergency effort by the European Union, jointly with the international community, to help Ukraine address its urgent financial needs. This assistance will supplement the EU's support that has already been provided and includes an emergency macro-financial assistance loan of 1.2 billion euros paid in the first half of the year. Thus, the amount of support for Ukraine will be up to 2.2 billion euros since February 24 and may reach 10 billion euros when the emergency package of assistance to Ukraine is fully disbursed.

The European Commission said that the proposal provides for the provision of funds to Ukraine in the form of long-term loans on preferential terms and will contribute to Ukraine's macroeconomic stability and overall sustainability. As a sign of solidarity, the EU budget will cover the interest on this loan, and 70% of the amount of this loan will be provided by the EU budget.