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BRUSSELS. Nov 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Commission has officially unveiled a proposal to provide Ukraine in 2023 with up to EUR 18 billion in a new format of Macro-Financial Assistance+ (MFA+) for the stable maintenance of state functions during the war waged by Russia against the country.
The decision was announced by Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis on Wednesday in Brussels at a press conference.
Commenting on this decision, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on her Twitter page: "The EU continues to stand in solidarity with Ukraine. We propose an EUR18 billion support package for 2023. Funding in regular tranches to help recovery in the short-term and strengthen institutions. Preparing the ground for a reconstruction of Ukraine progressing on the EU path."
"The Commission has proposed an unprecedented support package for Ukraine of up to EUR18 billion for 2023. This will come in the form of highly concessional loans, disbursed in regular instalments as of 2023. This stable, regular and predictable financial assistance – averaging EUR1.5 billion per month – will help cover a significant part of Ukraine’s short-term funding needs for 2023, which the Ukrainian authorities and the International Monetary Fund estimate at EUR3 billion to EUR4 billion per month. The support put forward by the EU would need to be matched by similar efforts by other major donors in order to cover all of Ukraine’s funding needs for 2023," the EC said.
"The MFA+ instrument will be accompanied by reforms to help Ukraine advance on its path to becoming a member of the EU. This means that the Ukrainian government will have to complement the financial support with sectoral and institutional reforms, including anti-corruption and judicial reforms, respect of the rule of law, good governance, and modernization of the national and local institutions. We will check that these reforms have been effectively put in place when paying out the instalments," the report says.
