€500 million EU loan approved

At the end of May the European Parliament voted 604 votes to 37 for Ukraine to be eligible for an EU loan of up to €500 million to help it through the financial crisis.

A maximum EU loan of €500 million will be available to Ukraine for 30 months, to be repaid within 15 years.

This money would help Kyiv to finance its balance-of-payments deficit and meet its budgetary needs, supplementing IMF support and €110 million in EU macro-financial assistance already granted in 2002.

Conditions for the assistance include improved efficiency, transparency and accountability with progress regularly assessed by the European Commission, and the EU Parliament must be briefed on how the assistance is managed.

The macro-financial assistance, MEPs believe, can only contribute to economic stabilisation if the main Ukrainian political forces ensure political stability and support rigorous implementation of the necessary structural reforms.