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knowing what’s going to pass, in terms of funding, because we had trouble getting the bill that we had to pass," the US president said.
Ukraine and the US have agreed on financial assistance in the form of a loan. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved an agreement between Ukraine and the US on attracting financial aid for the Ukrainian budget within a support package totaling more than $60B. Economic assistance from the US will amount to almost $7.899B:
● $7.849B will be allocated from the Economic Support Fund (ESF), which will be directed to the state budget of Ukraine.
● $50M will be allocated to ensure food security.
According to the agreement, the US funds will be provided based on an interest-free loan, which will not include any adjustment for inflation. The loan will be repaid in one payment, made in US dollars, 40 years after September 30, 2025 (September 30, 2065). The agreement provides for the possibility of writing off the loan at the US president's discretion. After November 15, 2024, the US president can write off up to 50% of the loan amount. After January 1, 2026, any amount remaining to be repaid can be forgiven. Cancellation of the loan will be irrevocable and irreversible.
US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said last week during his visit to Kyiv that the US is working on attracting more than $62B in budget support for Ukraine from international partners.
• EU Aid
Only five out of eight EU membership candidates joined the decision to hand over the income from Russia’s frozen assets to Kyiv. Georgia, Moldova and Serbia are not on this list, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said in his statement. According to Borrell, candidate states North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the European Council decision 2024/14701 on immobilization of interest from Russian assets for support to Ukraine. This decision was also joined by Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein. The European Union demands that all candidate states comply with all sanctions directives and other foreign policy decisions, although they are not allowed to participate in making these decisions. By the moment of accession to the EU, a candidate state must fully comply with Brussels’ foreign policy course. This is why Georgia’s and Serbia’s positions cause sharp frustration in European institutions, because these countries consistently refuse to impose sanctions against Russia. Moldova usually joins all Brussels’ sanctions.
The EU will issue €65B in bonds, part of which will be allocated to Ukraine.The EC has decided to issue EU bonds worth up to €65B in the second half 2024. Proceeds from EU bonds will finance payments under NextGenerationEU and other policy programs, including payments to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility program. The EU allocated €6 billion as part of the Ukraine Facility for 2024 as part of the previous bond issue. Financing plans for the second half will bring the total volume of EU bond issuance in 2024 to €140B (in the first half of the year, the EU issued bonds for €75 billion). EU bond issuance is expected to increase to €150B and €160B in 2025 and 2026.
Hungary will appeal the transfer of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, blocking another €6.6B in support. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, said "the EU crossed a red line" by using €1.4B in Russian asset revenue to finance the supply of weapons to Ukraine, while "in reality, Hungary did not want this, and a unanimous decision would be required." In addition, Hungary is delaying seven decisions on Ukraine totaling €6.6B in aid. Moreover, in recent months the Hungarian prime minister has blocked or postponed consideration of a record number of foreign and security policy issues that require unanimity. Therefore, the Belgian
77 UKRAINE Country Report July 2024 www.intellinews.com