The early release of part of the EU loan will not be a panacea for covering Ukraine’s budget needs.
This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Vsevolod Chentsov, Euronews reports Euronews.
According to him, the Ukrainian government is seeking financial support not only from the European Union, but also from other partners, to close the deficit primarily for defence needs this year and to underpin its strategy through to 2027.
“We are still working to understand how to close it, where to find the money and what exactly we need in each area. The EU is our main partner, and the €90bn loan will significantly help us cover both defence and civilian needs. Bringing forward the funds is probably one of the solutions, but it is not a panacea,” Chentsov noted.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported a €23bn funding shortfall and asked Brussels to bring forward part of the disbursements from the €90bn loan.
Chentsov added that Kyiv plans to cover around a third of its financial needs through countries outside the European Union, including Norway, the United Kingdom, Canada, Iceland and Switzerland.
The EU has already transferred €8.5bn to Ukraine under this loan, and Kyiv recently submitted a new request for a disbursement to strengthen its air defence system.
EU representatives have expressed readiness to consider accelerating payments, but stress that the current financial plan remains sufficient for now.
Ukraine has also again raised the issue of using frozen Russian assets worth €210bn to cover the budget deficit.