The EU plans to provide 500 million euro as macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in December this year, EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn has said.
He said at a meeting with the business community in Kyiv on Friday that the EU would also provide 55 million euro to Ukraine to finance the new program “Support to Ukraine’s Regional Policy,” which will help implement the State Regional Development Strategy 2020.
Hahn said that the funds would be allocated for a period of three years, with 50 million euro to be spent on specific actions and 5 million euro on technical assistance, including educational training.
Later, at a briefing in Kyiv, he noted that the EU had already allocated 1 billion euro in financial assistance to Ukraine over the last eight months, in the form of loans and grants, as financial support in an emergency situation.
He said that another 260 million euro had been allocated earlier this month and that 500 million euro would be provided in the near future.
When talking to reporters, he also noted that the EU institutions would continue to work with the Ukrainian government, businesses and civil society to implement the Association Agreement and prepare for implementation the part of the agreement, which concerns a deep and comprehensive free trade area.
Hahn said that the EU would support exports of Ukrainian-made products to the EU countries by cancelling the duties as part of the current autonomous trade measures.
As reported, the EU plans to allocate 55 million euro to Ukraine for decentralization and regional policy reforms.
“The EU commits to support Ukraine’s decentralization and regional policy reforms. The EU funds will support all three objectives of the Ukrainian State Regional Development Strategy 2020, namely competitiveness of regions, territorial socio-economic cohesion and effective state governance of regional development,” Hahn said.
