The European Union has transferred €1 billion to Ukraine under the ERA initiative.
This was announced by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and the Ministry of Finance.
‘This was announced during our meeting with EU Commissioner for Economic and Productivity Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels,’ the Prime Minister wrote in a telegram.
This is the third tranche under the G7 initiative, secured by proceeds from frozen Russian assets. The funds will be used for priority state budget expenditures.
In total, European allies have provided €5 billion to Ukraine under the ERA programme.
‘I emphasised at the meeting that our priority is the complete confiscation of frozen Russian sovereign assets, which should be used as a resource for the reconstruction of Ukraine. We paid special attention to this issue,’ Shmyhal said.
Addendum. The Ministry of Finance added that the ERA envisages USD 50 billion to be allocated to Ukraine, of which the EU's contribution is EUR 18.1 billion (USD 20 billion).
It is expected that Ukraine will receive the rest of the funds from the EU in instalments until the end of 2025.
‘In 2025, the EU allocated €8.5 billion to the State Budget of Ukraine, the largest amount among all donors. The funds came under the ERA mechanism and the Ukraine Facility financial instrument. I am grateful to the partners for their consistent and predictable support, which supports Ukraine's financial stability. The funding raised is directed to the priority areas of the country's budget,' commented Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko.
Since February 2022, the European Union has been the largest provider of direct budgetary assistance to Ukraine, with EUR 50.5 billion for priority state budget expenditures.
- ERA (Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration) is an initiative that provides for $50 billion from the G7 countries to be repaid from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
- Ukraine received the previous tranche in March.
- The frozen assets of Russia's central bank in the EU amount to €210 billion, making up the majority of such frozen assets worldwide, according to official EU data.
- This year, the EU will provide €35 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine through the G7 ERA and the Ukraine Facility.