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Politico writes, Senator Lindsey Graham noted that during a meeting in Kyiv with President Zelenskyy, he discussed the prospect of an "interest-free loan that can be waived." The loan option is also under serious consideration in the House of Representatives. The Republican Party is considering the following structure for the loan agreement: $48B of the $60B requested by President Biden will be directed to the American defense and industrial base. Weapons will be sent to Ukraine, but this money will support American jobs, and the remaining $12B can be sent directly to Ukraine - in the form of a low-interest loan or interest-free. However, White House Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre emphasized that Congress should approve additional aid to Ukraine and not discuss loan financing.
• EU Aid
EU moves toward plan to use profits from frozen Russian assets for arms for Ukraine. "I am confident that we can act very quickly," said European Council President Charles Michel.
France, Germany reportedly oppose using bonds to maximize profits from frozen Russian assets. At the same time, the EU moved closer on March 21 to finalizing a plan to use 90% of the profits generated from the frozen funds to purchase weapons for Kyiv and allocate the remaining 10% to the EU budget to support Ukraine's defense industry
The EU does not want to transfer €5B in income from the frozen assets of the Russian Federation to Ukraine. The EU decided not to transfer €5B to Ukraine from the proceeds received from the investment of the frozen assets of the Russian Federation in 2022-2023. This money will be in Euroclear, the body that holds most of the assets belonging to the Russian Federation’s Central Bank in the EU. Earlier, the EC proposed to use 90% of the revenues from Russia’s frozen assets in Europe to purchase weapons for Ukraine, but only funds received after February 15, 2024 - the date when EU countries agreed to transfer them to Ukraine. The EC decided that €5B would be a buffer for paying current and potential lawsuits in the Russian Federation and other countries. The Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska noted that the amount is larger than any potential lawsuits. However, lawyers explain that the retroactive seizure of profits would be a legal minefield, which explains the EC’s decision.
The EU has paid Ukraine the first €4.5B under the Ukraine Facility as of March 21, and the IMF will consider providing $880M. The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced the first payment under the Ukraine Facility program. The next payment of €1.5B is expected in April. The funds received now will help finance the priority social and humanitarian expenditures in Ukraine’s state budget.
Ukraine may lose out on EU funds if reforms are not fulfilled. The €50B EU Ukraine Facility program will contain about 140 indicator conditions. The main areas of reforms in the program will be state administration, state finances, the justice system, and the fight against corruption. Economic reforms must be carried out in almost all spheres, particularly energy, transport, agriculture, IT, and digitalization. It is already known that if an indicator is not fulfilled on time, the next tranche will be reduced by a corresponding amount. For example, to receive the next tranche of €600M, Ukraine will need to fulfill three indicators by a specific deadline, and if one of the deadlines is missed, ’then the amount of money will be reduced proportionally – by a third to €400M. To receive the remaining €200M, the overdue indicator must be fulfilled within a year at the latest. Otherwise, the money will ““be lost.
EU gives final approval to $5.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine. EU foreign ministers finally agreed to allocate an additional 5 billion euros ($5.5
53 UKRAINE Country Report April 2024 www.intellinews.com