UKR/ EU SIGNS MOU FOR €1 BILLION IN MACRO-FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR UKRAINE

European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas today signed the Memorandum of
 Understanding on the new €1 billion Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) loan programme to
 Ukraine, which was approved by the EU Council of Ministers on 14 April. The new MFA
 programme is intended to assist Ukraine economically and financially in the current critical
 stage of its development. It is part of the package to support Ukraine announced by the
 European Commission on 5 March and endorsed by the European Council on 6 March.
 
 "This assistance, combined with the previously decided €610 million MFA programme, will
 provide much-needed help to the Ukrainian Government for its financing needs. It is a
 concrete sign of the EU's support to the Ukrainian people in a difficult situation, along with
 the other long-term financial assistance," said Commission Vice-President Kallas.
 
 The Macro-Financial Assistance is designed to help Ukraine cover part of its urgent external
 financing needs in the context of the stabilisation and reform programme recently prepared
 by the Ukrianian authorities with the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The
 assistance is aimed at reducing the economy’s short-term balance of payments and fiscal
 vulnerabilities.
 
 The disbursement of the assistance will be conditional on specific economic policy conditions
 outlined in the MoU and on the successful implementation of an IMF Stand-By Arrangement,
 which is expected to be approved shortly by the IMF Executive Board. The policy conditions
 focus on public finance management and anti-corruption, trade and taxation, energy sector and financial sector reforms, along with the provision of increased social subsidies for those in the most vulnerable situation.
 
The new €1 billion programme will be implemented in parallel with the programme of €610 million, which was approved already in 2010 but was not released because of the non-compliance with the necessary conditions by the then authorities in Kyiv...(link)