Ukraine has received EUR 5.9 billion in financial assistance from the European Union, according to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
She announced this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.
She stated that EUR 4.1 billion under the ERA Loans mechanism represents the final tranche of an EUR 18 billion program financed through profits from frozen Russian assets.
“This is an example of Russia beginning to pay for its crimes. At the same time, it is a signal of European solidarity and determination to support our ability to endure,” Svyrydenko said.
An additional EUR 1.8 billion was provided under the Ukraine Facility, confirming, according to Svyrydenko, that Ukraine is confidently advancing on its path of reform and European integration.
“Both decisions are the result of strategic partnership and trust between Ukraine and the European Union,” she said.
Svyrydenko thanked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as well as Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis and Marta Kos, for their leadership and steadfast support of Ukraine.
“This helps us maintain macro-financial stability even amid the challenges of war – the largest in Europe since World War II. These funds mean saved lives, rebuilt infrastructure, and a strengthened economy. They also mean that more of our domestic resources can be directed to what matters most — defense,” Svyrydenko said.
“Europe stands with Ukraine. The aggressor will pay. Justice will prevail,” she added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in turn, stressed that the EU must continue increasing the cost of war for Russia, because “the scars are becoming more and more visible in Russia’s economy.”
“We all want this war to end. But a lasting peace relies on a strong and independent Ukraine. Today, Putin still believes he can outlast us. He still thinks that, over time, Russia can achieve its aims on the battlefield. That is a clear miscalculation,” von der Leyen said, adding that now is the moment to intensify efforts to bring Putin to the negotiating table.
She recalled that Russia had recently stepped up attacks on all sources of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure simultaneously. Von der Leyen stressed that, having failed to make progress on the battlefield, Putin is again trying to terrorize the Ukrainian people by using winter as a weapon.
“Once again, he must fail. And Europe will continue to empower Ukraine’s resistance,” she said.
Regarding EU “winter assistance” for Ukraine, von der Leyen clarified that the EU is already repairing damage caused by Russian strikes, stabilizing Ukraine’s power grid by exporting more than two gigawatts of electricity from the EU, and protecting critical infrastructure, including through new anti-drone equipment.
“So this winter will shape the future of the war, and our response must rise to the challenge,” von der Leyen concluded.
On October 1, the European Commission provided Ukraine with the ninth tranche of its emergency macro-financial assistance (MFA) loan worth EUR 4 billion, reaffirming the EU’s commitment to supporting Ukraine, following von der Leyen’s announcement of a EUR 6 billion advance contribution to the ERA loan initiative.
Photo: Yulia Svyrydenko / Telegram