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After the Switzerland conference, Ukraine expects to receive $1.9B in aid.
During the conference in Lugano, Switzerland, agreements were reached on financial support for Ukraine in the amount of $1.9B, announced Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Of this amount, $600M is provided in the form of financial support, and more than $500M is for the development of the agricultural sector in the form of funds for product storage, improvement of logistics, and liquidity provision for enterprises. In addition, Ukraine agreed to provide more than $500M to prepare for the heating season and almost $250M to develop digital transformation projects.
Ukraine to receive $1.7 billion grant to cover healthcare expenses. The grant was given by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association and USAID, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on July 10. The money will be used to cover the costs of the state budget for health services.
The EU has approved an additional €1B in macro-financial assistance for Ukraine. The EU Council announced a decision to allocate an additional €1B of emergency macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, which will be directed to the country's priority needs and restore critical infrastructure performance. The primary purpose of the current aid is to ensure the state's ability to meet its social function obligations. This assistance is provided through a long-term loan on attractive terms. It will be available this year and transferred in a single financial package, which will be implemented through one or more tranches. This new macro-financial assistance is part of the extraordinary international efforts of donors and international financial institutions to support Ukraine in this critical situation. According to the EU council, the EU's second tranche of macro-financial aid for Ukraine will amount to €8B.
European Commission’s budget unit blocks 1.5 billion euro loan for Ukraine as ‘caution prevails over Ukraine’s urgent needs.’ According to Bloomberg, the European Investment Bank, which is the “EU’s lending arm,” offered Ukraine a loan to “support the war-torn nation as it faces mounting war costs and revenues collapse.” The proposed loan, however, was blocked by the European Commission’s budget unit “because of concerns over its financial reliability,” Bloomberg reported on July 7 citing anonymous officials.
Germany is blocking €9bn EU aid for Ukraine over gas supplies. For
more than a month, Germany has been blocking the provision of a €9B aid package, which should be the primary form of EU support for Ukraine, reported Corriere Della Sera. Germany is the biggest guarantor of this aid package; however, finance minister Christian Lindner does not like the fact that Brussels is again resorting to pan-European debt in the Ukrainian crisis after utilizing it during the pandemic. The deadlocked situation, confirmed by various protagonists both in Kyiv and in Brussels, could be one of the reasons that prompted Zelenskyy to suddenly remove the ambassador of Ukraine in Berlin, Andrii Melnyk. However, another reason for the nervousness of the Ukrainian president is the suspicion that the German government is preparing to violate sanctions against Moscow to restore the supply of Russian gas through the Nord Stream-1 gas pipelines.
Ukraine will join the Council of Europe Development Bank. The Development Bank of the Council of Europe (CEB) gave Ukraine the green light to join and allocated funds to support Ukrainian refugees in Europe. The
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