The €90 billion EU loan will be allocated to the military and winter preparations, says Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine plans to use a €90 billion loan from the European Union for military needs, specifically to develop domestic defense production and to prepare for the winter season.
The head of state announced this during a conversation with journalists.
According to him, the funding will be disbursed in several tranches, with the first funds planned to be directed toward the production of Ukrainian defense technologies.
“We’re talking about several tranches. Of course, we’ll target the first tranche toward domestic production for Ukraine’s defense. And not just defense—that is, drones and the entire sector,” Zelenskyy noted.
The president added that part of the funds will also be directed toward strengthening the energy sector.
“The second issue is energy. As we’ve discussed, we need to protect everything we can, everything within our power. We need to do this to the fullest extent possible and prepare for winter,” he emphasized.
Ukraine may receive the first tranche of financial aid from the European Union as early as the second quarter of this year. This amounts to 45 billion euros—half of the total 90-billion-euro package.
The European Union has approved a large-scale financial package for Ukraine worth 90 billion euros, which is intended to help cover the country’s most urgent budgetary needs. The loan does not impose an immediate financial burden on Ukraine, as its repayment is planned to be funded by future reparations from Russia. For now, the EU budget is providing the payment guarantees.
On April 23, EU member states approved the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, which imposes restrictions on 46 vessels of the “shadow fleet” and 60 entities supporting the Russian military-industrial complex. The new measures include stricter export restrictions on dual-use goods and sanctions against 20 credit and financial institutions.
