BRUSSELS, November 13. /TASS/. Ukraine may run short of money to fund its budget as early as February unless the European Union agrees on a reparations loan to Kiev using Russia’s frozen assets, Politico reported.
"Ukraine will face a funding crisis as 2025 turns into 2026 and is on course to run out of cash in February unless Belgium lifts its block on an audacious plan to issue a €140 billion reparations loan using immobilized Russian Central Bank assets held in a securities depository based in Brussels," the edition wrote.
Earlier, Politico reported that the former Soviet republic may face funding problems by April 2026. The article released on Thursday does not clarify why the digital newspaper changed its outlook though. In October, Belgium refused to back the initiative to use immobilized Russian assets as it demanded guarantees against bearing the financial risk alone, among other things. EU leaders plan to discuss the issue further at the next summit in December, and as the clock ticks toward that "there are few signs of the deadlock being broken between EU officials and the Belgian government," according to Politico.
Now that the United States has discontinued its financial support to Kiev, the EU will have to come up with funding for Ukraine, Politico warned. "Without the reparations loan, it seems highly unlikely that [EU] member countries will agree instead to borrow the funds on the market," Politico argued. Therefore, a "coalition of the willing" may have to try and raise funds against the background of political turmoil and a corruption scandal in Ukraine.