The European Commission will decide today how Ukraine should plug holes in the budget and pay salaries and pensions
The size of the short-term financial support is still being determined, but two officials familiar with the discussions told the agency that they expect it to "approximately cover Ukraine's financial needs for two months, mainly through loans."
A third official said the money would come from the EU budget and from EU governments, dismissing earlier talk that the funds could be raised on the market by issuing common bonds backed by the EU budget.
The extent of EU support, as indicated, will also depend on how many G7 countries are willing to contribute. A meeting of GXNUMX finance ministers is scheduled for the second half of this week, just after the European Commission is expected to unveil its proposals.
Member states must sign the European Commission's plan and can try to adjust it.
Governments are divided on how to support Ukraine, with many favoring loans, despite the IMF's view and Ukraine's likely inability to repay them. Germany is among EU countries supporting the grants, EU diplomats say.
The package could be a mix of grants and loans, officials said. The money will be used to pay salaries, pensions and hospital expenses in the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime.
The new package, if agreed upon by European countries, would be in addition to the €1,2 billion in emergency EU loans for Kiev that the EU agreed to in January, half of which has already been paid and the expected portion will be paid soon. said a representative of the European Commission.
According to European Commission experts, the long-term restoration of Ukraine will require colossal financial efforts amounting to trillions of euros.
In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that Ukraine needed about $5 billion a month for at least three months just to cover the current budget deficit caused by the war with Russia.
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