The EU will provide over $54 mln in assistance to Ukraine to cover its reconstruction expenses, which is 45% of its budget needed to rebuild villages and cities after Russian attacks, EU Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen announced.
The support will be provided through a special fund which will be financed with grants from the EU budget, loans raised on capital markets, and “proceeds from the immobilized Russian assets,” she said during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.
The president of the EU Commission added that on 21 June Ukraine would receive an update from the European Commission on the progress the country made in judicial and anti-corruption reforms.
In February 2022, Ukraine applied for EU membership and was granted EU candidate status five months late. However, to become a member of the Union, Ukraine should implement seven reforms known as the Copenhagen criteria.
“Despite the war, Ukraine has accelerated its reform agenda with impressive speed and resolve,” von der Leyen concluded.
Moreover, after the conference she announced that the EU leaders reached an agreement on the 11th sanction package against Russia, which would include measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual listings.
“I welcome the political agreement on our 11th sanctions package. It will deal a further blow to Putin’s war machine with tightened export restrictions, targeting entities supporting the Kremlin. Our anti-circumvention tool will prevent Russia from getting its hands on sanctioned goods,” Ursula von der Leyen stressed.
