EU disburses €300 million in emergency Macro-Financial Assistance to Ukraine

(Patria) - The European Commission disbursed today €300 million in emergency Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) to Ukraine. The disbursement of funds has been fast-tracked to help enhance Ukraine's macroeconomic stability in the context of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion.

This is the initial part of a first €600 million instalment under Ukraine's new €1.2 billion emergency MFA programme. A further disbursement of €300 million is expected to take place next week. The programme represents a concrete demonstration of the EU's unwavering support for Ukraine.

The disbursement comes following a swift adoption of the Commission's proposal for a new emergency programme by the Council and the European Parliament. The remaining funds (€600 million) will be disbursed later in the year, in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the EU and Ukraine.

In parallel to implementing the emergency MFA programme, the Commission is preparing an additional MFA programme to further support Ukraine in the longer term, as announced by President von der Leyen at the end of January.

The EU has already provided significant assistance to Ukraine in recent years. Since 2014, the EU and European financial institutions have allocated over €17 billion in grants and loans to the country. This figure includes the provision of €5.6 billion to Ukraine through five MFA programmes to support the implementation of a broad reform agenda in areas such as the fight against corruption, an independent judicial system, the rule of law, and improving the business climate. Under the last MFA programme for Ukraine, the EU disbursed €1.2 billion. The programme ended in 2021, with Ukraine implementing all the conditions agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding in the areas of public finance management, governance and the rule of law, and improving the business climate.

At the same time, the Commission is working on all fronts to support Ukraine with emergency assistance. This includes both humanitarian aid and civil protection assistance. On 1 March, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced at least €500 million of additional EU funding for response activities dealing with the humanitarian consequences of the crisis.