EU to allocate 9 billion euros to Ukraine to help the country’s economy

The Council “will continue to assist Ukraine in its immediate liquidity needs”, Michel tweeted during the summit, noting “firm and concrete support for Ukraine’s reconstruction”.

The leaders of European Union (EU) meeting in Brussels agreed to to allocate 9 billion euros to Ukraine (9.63 billion dollars) to help the economy of the country, the target of a Russian invasion, announced this Monday, 30, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

The Council “will continue to assist Ukraine in its immediate liquidity needs,” Michel tweeted during the summit, noting “firm and concrete support for Ukraine’s reconstruction.”

The Ukrainian government estimates its most urgent needs at around €5 billion a month. The European financing will be carried out through loans with special interest rates, informed a European source.

During the day, EU leaders also agreed to implement an embargo on a considerable part of their oil imports from Russia.

According to Michel, the deal will affect “more than two-thirds” of European purchases of Russian oil as part of the EU’s sixth package of sanctions against Russia.

Diplomatic sources anticipated that the agreement focuses on the embargo on Russian oil imports arriving by sea and excludes deliveries through pipelines for the time being.

The plan was the way out to overcome Hungary’s opposition to a widespread embargo on Russian oil, as the country – dependent on the crude oil it receives from Russia via pipeline – says such a measure would be a threat to its energy security.

In addition to the controversial oil embargo, the EU’s sixth action plan against Russia includes removing more Russian banks from the Swift interbank network and adding new names to the list of sanctioned Russian officials.

Source: AFP