Eight billion euros: Ukraine has to wait for EU bailout loans

The EU Commission has promised Ukraine loans of eight billion euros – none of which has yet been paid out. From Kyiv there were therefore allegations against Berlin – but the situation is more complicated.

The European Commission is happy to let the world know how much support they have for Ukraine from Brussels. Today it was the EU civil protection that was praised in this context: 1000 Ukrainian patients have so far been brought to European member states because clinics in Ukraine are at their limit. This life-saving will continue, it said.

And then, of course, there is the large amount of money for the country invaded by the Putin regime: around nine and a half billion euros have been made available to Ukraine in recent years. Another billion has been paid out since the beginning of the week, according to commission spokeswoman Ariana Podesta. The money has flowed into economic, humanitarian, technical and military support – and they are currently in the process of getting another eight billion on the way.

Apparently it is precisely these eight billion euros that Kyiv is urgently waiting for. In any case, the Ukrainian government has complained about delays in payment: the funds have so far been expected in vain. Which is because Germany is also blocking here within the EU.

Government rejects accusation

The federal government immediately rejected this accusation and Brussels did not want to confirm it either. However, according to the Commission, it is correct that guarantees from the member states are needed in order to actually be able to finance the sum. Because the money cannot be raised from the EU budget in this way, says Eric Mamer from the EU Commission: “We have to find suitable financing options outside of the EU budget – and that does indeed need the support of the member states. It’s easy to find yourself don’t think this will be easy.”

In other words: Within the member states, there is likely to be a hard struggle over who comes into play with how many billions. Because the eight billion are only to be made available to Ukraine as loans – but in Brussels it is assumed that the aid money will not be repaid from Kyiv in the long term. And that obviously makes it even more difficult.

Although the EU states agreed in principle in May to make these additional funds available to Ukraine, they have not yet gone beyond this declaration of basic readiness. And nobody knows when they will be. In any case, the Commission did not want to commit to a specific date. For Ukraine, this means that it will first have to wait a little longer for this money.