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European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR)
  • News article
  • 8 April 2022
  • Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations
  • 2 min read

EU disburses €120 million grant for Ukraine to support societal and state resilience

On the occasion of the visit of President Ursula von der Leyen together with High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell Fontelles today in Kyiv, the European Commission announced the disbursement of a €120 million grant for Ukraine to assist the government in strengthening civilian crisis preparedness and management at central and local levels.

This financial assistance for Ukraine reiterates the EU’s firm commitment to continuous support to the country and its people. It will strengthen the societal and state resilience in Ukraine, addressing existing vulnerabilities that result from Russia’s unjustified aggression towards Ukraine. Specifically, it aims to help the areas of civil protection, critical infrastructure and energy security, cyber security, the fight against disinformation, and the government's crisis communication vis-à-vis the general population.  

Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, said: “The EU stands in solidarity with Ukraine. Today's disbursement of a €120 million grant will support the Ukrainian government to timely and effectively address emergencies and crises provoked by Russia’s aggression. This support will also be crucial to protect the most vulnerable categories of citizens and secure the functioning of critical infrastructure which is a constant target of Russian military.”

Today’s disbursement follows the recent disbursement of €600 million under the €1.2 billion emergency Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) programme in support of Ukraine. Both types of assistance were announced by the European Commission on 24 January 2022 aiming to make a meaningful contribution towards enhancing Ukraine's macroeconomic stability and overall resilience.

Background

As part of an emergency package for Ukraine, the European Commission announced on 24 January 2022 an emergency Macro-Financial Assistance of €1.2 billion and a €120 million budget support grant (in the form of a “State and Resilience Building Contract”) to address Ukraine's financing needs due to Russian increasingly aggressive actions. Macro-Financial Assistance operations are part of the EU's broader engagement with neighbouring countries experiencing severe balance-of-payments problems. Following the disbursement of €600 million in loans in March, this €120 million State and Resilience Building Contract is intended to reinforce the Government’s response mechanism to crisis and emergencies, and help it to function better by providing cash injections to support essential expenditures.

In particular, it will extend the EU’s support to the following areas:

  • Contributing to the continued delivery of basic services, including protection, to the most vulnerable citizens through the establishment of the Ukrainian crisis preparedness and response system;
  • Strengthening protection of critical infrastructure;
  • Strengthening Ukraine's capacity to effectively mitigate the effects of cyber and disinformation attacks;
  • Supporting the development of a robust system of crisis communication.

This grant builds on the Economic Recovery Plan for Ukraine, the past and upcoming emergency Micro-Financial Assistance, and the EU budget support programmes already delivered in support to Ukraine.

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