EU to give Ukraine EUR 500 mln as macro-financial assistance in December 2014

The EU plans to provide EUR 500 million as macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in December this year, EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn has said.

He said at a meeting with the business community in Kyiv on Friday that the EU would also provide EUR 55 million to Ukraine to finance the new program "Support to Ukraine's Regional Policy," which will help implement the State Regional Development Strategy 2020.

Hahn said that the funds would be allocated for a period of three years, with EUR 50 million to be spent on specific actions and EUR 5 million on technical assistance, including educational training.

Later, at a briefing in Kyiv, he noted that the EU had already allocated EUR 1 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine over the last eight months, in the form of loans and grants, as financial support in an emergency situation.

He said that another EUR 260 million had been allocated earlier this month and that EUR 500 million would be provided in the near future.

When talking to reporters, he also noted that the EU institutions would continue to work with the Ukrainian government, businesses and civil society to implement the Association Agreement and prepare for implementation the part of the agreement, which concerns a deep and comprehensive free trade area.

Hahn said that the EU would support exports of Ukrainian-made products to the EU countries by cancelling the duties as part of the current autonomous trade measures.

As reported, the EU plans to allocate EUR 55 million to Ukraine for decentralization and regional policy reforms.

"The EU commits to support Ukraine's decentralization and regional policy reforms. The EU funds will support all three objectives of the Ukrainian State Regional Development Strategy 2020, namely competitiveness of regions, territorial socio-economic cohesion and effective state governance of regional development," Hahn said.