BRUSSELS, March 17. /TASS/. The Council of the European Union has approved the payment of 3.5 billion euros to Ukraine under a macrofinancial assistance program, according to a statement.
The decision was made at a meeting taking place in Brussels.
"With this third disbursement, Ukraine will have received close to 20 billion euros under the Ukraine Facility since its entry into force a year ago," the statement reads.
According to the document, "Ukraine successfully demonstrated that it had implemented 13 different steps." "These include, among others, passing reforms to increase the use of renewable energy; increasing the autonomy of the energy regulator; simplifying border-crossing procedures in line with EU standards; adopting a strategy for agriculture and rural development (including the removal of landmines from agricultural areas); and continuing work on listing its strategic and critical raw materials," the Council specified.
According to the Council of the EU, "the Ukraine Facility, which entered into force on March 1, 2024, provides up to 50 billion euros of stable financing, in grants and loans, to support Ukraine's recovery, reconstruction, and modernization for the period 2024 to 2027."