EU seeks new ways to help Ukraine - Bloomberg
EU seeks new ways to help Ukraine (Getty Images)
The European Union is moving forward on multiple fronts to maintain support for Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
The European Commission is expected to propose negotiation frameworks today to advance the process of Kyiv's accession to the bloc, with a payment of €4.5 billion to support the Ukrainian budget set to be dispatched in the coming days.
Additionally, the EU’s executive arm may propose allocating revenues obtained from a windfall tax on profits generated by frozen Russian central bank assets for Ukrainian military needs as early as this week – a matter to be discussed by EU finance ministers today.
Negotiations on Ukraine's EU accession
In December of last year, European Union leaders, during a summit, made a decision to commence negotiations with Ukraine regarding membership in the bloc.
In fact, the preliminary negotiations have yet to begin. This necessitates, among other things, the formulation of framework conditions by the European Commission. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said that the European Commission could make a decision on March 12, 13, or 14.
€50 billion EU program
On February 28, the EU Council finally approved the Ukraine Facility program, under which Ukraine will receive €50 billion in long-term loans by 2027. The first tranche of €4.5 billion is expected in March.
As reported by RBC-Ukraine, the EU's monitoring mechanism for the use of funds under the four-year, €50 billion Ukraine Facility program will have three levels.
Using Russian assets to aid Ukraine
According to the Financial Times, the European Union intends to allocate up to €3 billion to Ukraine this year from profits obtained from frozen Russian assets.
The European Commission is preparing a plan that will include the confiscation of sanction-related profits held in the Euroclear securities depository.
The first tranche of funds could be disbursed as early as July if Brussels can secure approval from EU member states. It is expected that this proposal will be out forward to foreign ministers at the EU leaders' summit next week.
Approximately €190 billion in Russian assets have been frozen in Euroclear since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has already yielded profits of €3.85 billion.
