European Commission to reduce Ukraine's ninth aid tranche by EUR 264.6 million

The European Commission has proposed allocating EUR 8.04 billion to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility programme. This amount is EUR 264.6 million less than requested by Kyiv, a reduction driven by the failure to meet certain programme conditions.

Details of the proposal for the ninth tranche

The information is contained in a European Commission document regarding the partial disbursement of the ninth tranche of financial assistance. It states that Ukraine has duly fulfilled 16 of the 18 conditions required to receive these funds.

Unmet requirements

Among the unmet requirements are the appointment of supervisory boards for state-owned enterprises with a majority of independent members and the preparation of a roadmap for the gradual liberalisation of gas and electricity markets. Specifically, independent members of supervisory boards were appointed in only 10 of the 15 state-owned enterprises stipulated by the programme conditions. Additionally, Ukraine has not adopted a roadmap for the liberalisation of energy markets.

Factors influencing the final amount

However, the European Commission took into account the partial fulfilment of the requirement regarding supervisory boards, as well as the early fulfilment of one obligation from the next tranche. This refers to the submission of a request for an IAEA mission to assess regulatory activities in the field of nuclear and radiation safety.

Thanks to this, the proposed amount turned out to be EUR 529.4 million higher than it would have been considering the unmet conditions. In the end, the difference between the amount requested by Ukraine and the European Commission's proposal stands at EUR 264.6 million.

Prospects for approval

Final approval of the payment requires a decision by the EU Council. This is expected by the end of November. According to sources in the European Union, after deducting the previously paid advance, Ukraine may receive approximately EUR 7.8 billion.