The European Union intends to provide Ukraine with further financial aid of up to nine billion euros over the course of the year. This emerges from a statement by the heads of state and government of the EU countries, which was published on Tuesday night. Ukraine should be able to use the money to cover running costs, for example for pension payments and the operation of hospitals. It was initially unclear how much money should be paid out as a grant and how much as a loan.
The statement literally says: “The European Union is ready to grant Ukraine new extraordinary macro-financial assistance of up to nine billion euros in 2022.” The text shows that the EU, with partners from the leading democracies (G7), continues to support the Ukrainian government not to go bankrupt.
The EU Commission recently announced that it would propose a corresponding measure. At that time, EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said that the help should consist primarily of loans and, in part, grants. According to Ukrainian information, the country receives the equivalent of almost 4.7 billion euros a month from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. These are the costs that the Ukrainian budget needs for social spending as a result of the war.
The IMF assumes that Ukraine needs aid of around five billion dollars a month to ensure the functioning of the government and important state institutions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj puts the sum to compensate for Ukraine’s economic losses at around 6.5 billion euros a month. In addition, there would be hundreds of billions for reconstruction.
The international community has already provided Ukraine with money on a number of occasions. According to EU information from mid-May, the European Union has already mobilized 4.1 billion euros in support since the beginning of the Russian war. This includes 1.5 billion euros for the financing of weapons and military equipment. Last week, the EU states finally agreed on a further 500 million for this purpose.
A week ago, US President Joe Biden put into effect a billion-dollar US aid package for Ukraine. Before Biden signed the law, the US Congress had approved the package with a volume of almost $40 billion (38 billion euros) by a large majority. Ukraine has also received assurances of support from other countries.
