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The European Union is preparing a solidarity fund for Ukraine. Officials familiar with the matter said the fund was intended to help Ukraine support liquidity – as President Volodymyr Zelensky has argued, as the country needs $ 7 billion a month to recover from economic losses.
“The Russian army intends to destroy all facilities in Ukraine that can serve as an economic basis for living. This includes train and railway stations, food warehouses, oil depots, refineries. ”- tha Zelenksy.
Estimates for rebuilding the war-torn country’s infrastructure are broad, but most go to several hundred billion euros. Brussels is reluctant to set figures for the fund as disagreements continue, yet it has begun to make an assessment of Ukraine’s financial needs together with the World Bank.
The fund is inspired by the EU’s past experience, such as the € 6 billion EU Refugee Initiative in Turkey, aimed at supporting and accommodating refugees and migrants by Ankara, under the EU-Turkey migration agreement aimed to prevent the flow of emigration towards the European bloc.
Earlier, President Joe Biden announced another $ 800 million in US aid to Ukraine. The new military package includes much-needed heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition and drones for Ukrainian forces in the escalating battle for the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. That adds up to about $ 2.6 billion in aid that President Biden had previously approved.
“In addition to strengthening Ukraine’s resistance on the battlefield, we are also demonstrating our support for the people of Ukraine. “Next week, I will have to send an additional budget request to Congress to supply arms and ammunition without interruption.” tha Biden.
Congress has signaled that it is open to further demands and has waited for further assistance to be sought from the Ukrainians.
Another example is the 2.4 billion-euro EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the war in Syria, co-chaired by the UN and open to other donors.
Similarly, Ukraine’s trust fund will be managed by the European Commission and will rely on EU budget guarantees. But depending on the size of the funding, these will have to be supplemented by donations from EU countries and other donors such as G7 members, as well as countries such as Australia and South Korea, officials said.
Most of the funds should be given as grants, an official stressed. The fund will also include the European Investment Bank, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. International financial institutions and EU countries are also pledging bilateral support to Ukraine, but the purpose of the trust fund would be to put all the money in a pot and then direct it where it is most needed. in coordination with the Ukrainian government, one third. said the official.
The commission, which is currently working on the proposals, did not respond to a request for comment.
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