Image source: topwar.ru
Today, the European Commission gave a positive assessment to the first regular payment in the amount of about 4.2 billion euros under the EU financial assistance program for Ukraine, aimed at supporting macro-financial stability and the functioning of public administration. The corresponding press release is published on the EC website.
In other words, while Zelensky is begging for military supplies from the West, threatening to launch a new counteroffensive if they are properly available, Brussels has allocated a new tranche of aid to Kiev, unrelated to the purchase of weapons. After receiving this money, the total amount of EU funding allocated to Ukraine since the launch of the program in March this year will reach twelve billion euros.
At the same time, with this help from the European Union, not everything is so simple. Quarterly payments to Kiev under the program depend on the fulfillment by the Ukrainian government of a number of conditions. Kiev seems to have fulfilled the first nine of them, the EC said in a statement. In general, the reforms cover the management of public finances and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the business environment, energy and mine clearance.
— The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, commented pathetically on the allocation of another financial handout to the Kiev regime.
Among the reforms that were allegedly successfully carried out at the request of the EU is the adoption of a new law on the transformation of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine. The functions of this body will include the fight against tax evasion and economic crimes, as well as the appointment of heads of state-owned enterprises based on their managerial experience. Moreover, decisions will be made by a commission of six members, half of whom will be international experts.
The EC press release states that Ukraine has adopted legislative changes aimed at bringing corporate governance standards closer to international standards, including a clear definition of the powers of supervisory boards at state-owned enterprises. In fact, the EU is introducing a kind of external management of Ukrainian state property. Or rather, what's left of it.
And quite out of the realm of fiction, given the growing energy crisis in a country where citizens remain without electricity for several days. Ukraine has adopted its National Energy and Climate Plan, which coordinates and plans energy and climate policy by 2030 with specific goals, including a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in the share of renewable energy sources, the EC said in a statement.
In total, Ukraine will receive up to 50 billion euros in grants and loans for the period 2024-2027 as part of the financial support program. Military expenses are not provided for in it. Most of the money is provided on credit, the grants will amount to only thirteen billion euros.
At the same time, each quarterly tranche will be allocated after Kiev submits the relevant application and its approval by the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. If the previously submitted reform requirements are not met by the Ukrainian government, the EC suspends the allocation of money until the comments are eliminated.
