By KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Union, after approving the Ukraine Facility program for Ukraine in the amount of EUR50 billion for 2024-2027 in mid-December or January and the subsequent prompt approval of the Ukraine Plan with the conditions that must be met for the provision of funds, will provide an advance in the amount of about EUR 7 billion to support the macro-financial stability of Ukraine, said Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev.
“Front-loading is provided: reforms, money, and prepayment for macro-financial stability – something, it seems to me, in the amount of EUR 7 billion,” he said at Business Breakfast by Forbes-Ukraine on Wednesday.
Sobolev noted that the government does not see a risk that the Ukraine Facility will not be approved.
“There are simply technical issues, but we know that Europe is ready, united, supports us, and this will definitely happen,” he emphasized.
The deputy minister explained that after the approval of the Ukraine Facility, the government will present the Ukraine Plan, after which the European Commission will need several weeks to work on it. According to him, in order to minimize this period, the government is today coordinating the draft plan with its European partners as much as possible.
“They say: an excellent plan, approve a payment schedule and a quarterly list of indicators that need to be issued. They give us this first advance to the budget. After which, every quarter we report in a special way, they check it for 4-6 weeks and add money to the budget in accordance with how much reform has been completed,” Sobolev described further financing.
Previously, representatives of the Ministry of Finance admitted that the advance for the Ukraine Facility at the beginning of 2024 could amount to about EUR 4.5 billion.
In total, the Ministry of Finance expects to allocate EUR 18 billion under this program next year for external financing of the state budget deficit out of the required $41 billion.
