EU APPROVES $1.36B CREDIT PACKAGE FOR UKRAINE AS WORRIES MOUNT

Mon 21 February 2022:

On Monday, the European Union gave its final approval to a €1.2 billion ($1.36 billion) macro-financial support package for Ukraine in order to boost the country’s “resilience.”

“The EU fast-tracked this economic assistance to Ukraine, as the current geopolitical tensions are having a detrimental effect on Ukraine’s economic and financial stability,” said a statement issued after EU economic and finance ministers officially approved the package.

According to the EU, “the heightened geopolitical uncertainty” restricts Kyiv’s access to international capital markets and triggers a “substantial outflow of international capital.”

Because of the gravity of the situation, the financial assistance was adopted with an unusual speed after that the European Commission proposed the package three weeks ago and the European Parliament approved it last week.

“The EU has acted swiftly and decisively to help Ukraine. Within 21 days, we completed the necessary work, which means that €1.2 billion macro-financial assistance can now reach Ukraine,” French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on the decision.

The loans will be released in two installments by the EU. The first tranche should be available soon.

Tensions have risen dramatically in eastern Ukraine last week, with reports of a growing number of cease-fire violations, multiple shelling incidents, and evacuation of civilians from the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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