The EU approved the disbursement of nearly 3 billion euros in support for Ukraine, with Norway making a financial contribution. UNN reports this, citing a communiqué from the Council of the EU dated September 24.
Ukraine will soon receive nearly 3 billion euros after the Council of the EU approved the eighth regular tranche under the EU’s Ukraine Facility. Almost 800 million euros of this amount will be provided for the first time through the Ukraine Support Loan
What the money will be allocated for
As noted, "the payment approved today reflects Ukraine’s successful completion of ten targeted steps." "Ukraine has completed 84 of the 95 targeted steps required under the Ukraine Plan to date, representing approximately 88% of the steps counted at that time," the statement said.
EU funding under the Ukraine Facility, as stated, "is intended to strengthen macro-financial stability, restore and modernize Ukraine, ensure the functioning of its public administration, and support its reform efforts."
Following this eighth disbursement, Ukraine will, as noted, receive more than 32 billion euros under the Ukraine Facility since mid-2024.
"Today, the Council of the EU also amended the Ukraine Plan to include Norway’s voluntary financial contribution of 1,000,000,000 Norwegian kroner (approximately 92 million euros) in the form of non-repayable support," the EU said.
The Ukraine Facility allows EU member states, third countries, and international organizations to make voluntary contributions. Sweden has already made additional voluntary contributions totaling more than 253 million euros over the past year. Norway is the first non-EU country to contribute to the first pillar (Pillar I) of the Ukraine Facility ("Support to Ukraine through the Ukraine Plan"). The United Kingdom recently contributed more than 17 million euros to the second pillar (Pillar II) of the instrument ("Ukraine Investment Framework").
What preceded this
Before the decision, Bloomberg reported — citing a source — that "on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations in New York." It also reported that EU officials had told Ukraine they needed to see progress on new legislation to combat the shadow economy, increase tax revenues, and bring legislation closer to that of the EU before providing more funding.
In comments to journalists during the night of September 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied reports that his conversation with the president of the European Commission on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York had allegedly been tense.
"I did not have difficult talks with Ursula von der Leyen, because they had been prepared by a phone conversation I had with her beforehand. We discussed several issues; we have a deficit. She understands this perfectly well. This deficit is not without reason — our army says: we need more interceptors per day, we need to destroy more, additional weapons are needed for the F-16s — so all of this is ultimately measured in volumes of weapons and amounts of money. In other words, the war is becoming more expensive. It is important that this information has been conveyed to the Europeans, and Europe accepts this. (...) The meeting was, by the way, absolutely positive. I do not know where such a message came from. I would even say it was a very positive meeting. The teams will work out solutions," Zelenskyy said.
For reference
The Ukraine Facility program entered into force on March 1, 2024, and provides more than 50 billion euros in grants and loans to support Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and modernization through 2027.
Of this total, more than 40 billion euros is earmarked for the reforms and investments set out in the Ukraine Plan — Ukraine’s roadmap for recovery and accession to the EU — with disbursements linked to Ukraine’s achievement of the Plan’s targets.
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