Verkhovna Rada, Europarl committees discuss creation of Ukraine programs in EU budget

MOSCOW. Sept 1 (Interfax) - The budget committees of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada and the European Parliament discussed the creation of programs for Ukraine within the European Union's budget at an online meeting.

The crisis in Ukraine has shown that the existing concept of EU budget planning does not live up to its purpose. "It needs to be reconsidered. Therefore, we want the budget for 2024 to be based on a new multi-year budget, which will include to Ukraine Facility program," Ukrainian media quoted President of the European Parliament's Committee on the Budget Johan Van Overtveldt as saying in a statement circulated by the Verkhovna Rada's press service.

The parties also discussed ways to address gaps in the budget, control over the use of EU financial assistance and the financing of Ukraine's defense needs.

"The budget situation in Ukraine is challenging. We see an unprecedented deficit of $42 billion. Unfortunately, it will remain at the same level next year. That is why, we welcome the European Commission's proposal to create a special financial instrument, Ukraine Facility, that will envisage 39 billion euros of direct budget support for Ukraine. At the same time, next year Ukraine will need at least 18 billion euros, which will help cover social spending," chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada's budget committee Roksolana Pidlasa said.

Ukrainian parliamentarians also offered European Parliament members clarification as regards the purposes the provided assistance has been spent on, guarantees for donors and reports on the types and ratio of the grants, subsidies and loans that have already been received and used.

Steps to make the work of Ukraine's Accounting Chamber more efficient, the introduction of a more in-depth audit of all processes, the implementation of the judicial reform, and the export of agricultural products from Ukraine were also on the meeting's agenda.

"The support for Ukraine is not declining. No one has called it into question. We will help. We want to engage all institutions that crack down on corruption and conflicts of interests in order to ensure transparency. The only thing that is needed is access to information so that we could help," member of the European Parliament's Committee on the Budget Eider Gardiazabal Rubial said.