Ukraine's budget is facing its most difficult situation since 2022 — Marchenko

Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko stated that Ukraine is currently facing its most dire budgetary situation since the start of the full-scale war.

The country’s annual need for external financing remains at around $50 billion. At the same time, the unfunded need for 2027 is preliminarily estimated at $32.6 billion.

According to Marchenko, due to the government’s liquidity problems, it will likely have to postpone some payments not directly related to the war. At the same time, the minister assured that this will not affect payments to external creditors.

The impact is likely to be felt most acutely at the local level—particularly in funding the restoration and protection of infrastructure ahead of winter.

Marchenko also called on the EU to reconsider its approach to the use of approximately $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. Ukraine proposes transferring the responsibility for their safekeeping from Belgian jurisdiction to the EU level to reduce legal risks for Belgium and Euroclear.

Source: Serhiy Marchenko / Euronews.

The European Union plans to provide Ukraine with 920 million euros to restore and strengthen its energy infrastructure ahead of winter. This was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

As a reminder, Zelenskyy presented Ursula von der Leyen with the first Ukrainian Order of Europe.