Ukraine requests at least 18 billion in financial aid from the EU in 2024
The Ukrainian finance minister said, this Saturday, to his European Union (EU) counterparts that Kiev will need at least 18 billion euros of macro-financial aid in 2024, identical to what the EU will disburse this year, EFE reports
Sergii Marchenko also called for the country’s reconstruction to begin before the end of the war.
The minister participated in an informal meeting of EU Economy and Finance ministers, in Stockholm, which discussed how to continue to provide financial support to Ukraine and pay for the country’s reconstruction, although specific figures or models of financing.
“It will not be easy to drastically reduce our expenses, it will depend on the military campaign, but I believe that it cannot be less than the 18 billion euros that we have foreseen for this year”, he said on arrival at the meeting, when he called for the use of frozen Russian assets under sanctions to pay for reconstruction.
European ministers reiterated that they will continue to support Ukraine, and their “total commitment” to the country’s reconstruction, although they consider it premature to set a figure for future macro-financial assistance, which in 2022 and 2023 was financed by the joint issue of EU debt. .
“If there is political will, we can prepare the next (aid) package. It is too early to discuss exact amounts because we are still in the first half of the year and the situation is uncertain in a context of war”, said the vice-president of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis.
The EU’s intention is to look into how to continue financing Ukraine in coordination with international partners such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and G7 members such as the United States and Canada, whose finance minister, Chrysta Freeland, also attended the meeting.
The IMF estimates that the country’s external financing needs will amount to 40 billion dollars (36.02 billion euros) in 2023 and 2024, if the war ends in the middle of next year, while the World Bank assesses the needs of reconstruction at US$411 billion (370.17 billion euros), twice the country’s GDP before the war.
The EU has not yet decided how to finance a future macro-financial aid package, a negotiation that will be one of the most relevant during the Spanish presidency of the EU in the second half of the year, and for this purpose the available margins of the multiannual budget 2021-2027 may be used, which will be reviewed in the middle of this year, the instruments of the European Investment Bank or the issuance of joint debt, among other tools.
On the possibility of using frozen Russian state assets, as requested by Kiev, Valdis Dombrovskis recalled that the Commission is assessing whether this is legally possible and the modalities of application, having proposed that the States inform it about the assets existing in their respective territories.
“According to international law, the aggressor state has an obligation to pay damages,” he said.
The Russian military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 in Ukraine was justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security.
