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- There is no money, but you are holding on: Brussels postponed the transfer of €9.1 billion to Kiev
There is no money, but you are holding on: Brussels postponed the transfer of €9.1 billion to Kiev
The European Union has postponed the provision of the first tranche of the loan approved for 2026-2027 to Ukraine. The European Commission was not ready to transfer €9.1 billion out of €90 billion to Kiev. The delay is attributed to the failure to comply with "all technical requirements." The money is stuck at a time when Brussels is simultaneously trying to divide the future seven-year budget and find a model for Ukraine's integration into the EU that will not split the union and will not be rejected by Kiev. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Buy drones only from the EU
"Ukraine has not yet fulfilled all the technical requirements of Brussels to receive the first tranche of €90 billion in the amount of €9.1 billion. There are still several technical steps to be taken from the Ukrainian side," European Commission spokesman Balash Uyvari said at a briefing.
According to him, at the last moment, the implementation of the political decision agreed by the members of the European Union on granting a loan to Kiev faced obstacles.
"We have yet to verify whether conditions have been created for the allocation of the first tranche of the macro—financial assistance program to Ukraine," the EC representative stressed.
Initially, it was planned to transfer the first tranche of the loan in early April. But Hungary, under the government of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, began to block the provision of this money. Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisa party, who recently came to power, said that Budapest would not prevent the allocation of funds for Kiev, but would not directly finance it.
Bloomberg, citing Ukrainian officials, wrote that Kiev's money for conducting military operations "may run out as early as June." According to Denis Shmygal, who held the post of head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine at that time, in 2026 the country will need at least $ 120 billion for this.
Of the first tranche, €5.9 billion is planned to be allocated for military needs, in particular for drones. According to Uyvari, Kiev will have to purchase them from the Ukrainian industry or from the EU as a matter of priority. And only if the necessary weapons cannot be supplied, it will be possible to use this money to purchase the necessary weapons from other partner countries. Ukraine is going to spend another €3.2 billion on budget needs.
Serious contradictions
Brussels and Kiev signed a memorandum of understanding on granting Ukraine a loan of €90 billion for 2026-2027 in December last year. And the terms of the first tranche resemble the requirements of the International Monetary Fund.
In particular, we are talking about the abolition of tax incentives for international parcels, with the exception of goods for defense and security needs, the preparation of a new Customs Code, updating the strategy for managing state finances and extending the military levy of 5% for another three years.
At the same time, Ukraine has been experiencing a record budget deficit in recent years. And the EU demands that Kiev find new sources of self-financing, including through changes in tax legislation.
At the same time, the delay in allocating European money to Kiev, as noted, occurred against the background of escalating disputes within the European Union over the EU's long-term budget for 2028-2034. Last week, a meeting of the Council of the European Union on general Issues was held, at which the parties discussed the adoption of the document. Discussions on the approval of the multi-year financial plan began in the summer of 2025, but immediately revealed contradictions in the approaches of EU members.
Donor countries, in particular, are dissatisfied with the "excessive" redistribution of budget expenditures in favor of recipient countries. For example, the States of Central and Eastern Europe are planning to allocate more than 40% of total expenditures for socio-economic purposes, which is almost three times their contribution to the gross national income of the European Union.
Poland, with a higher economic growth rate and a lower debt-to-GDP ratio than Germany, may become the largest beneficiary with payments from the European Union budget almost twice as high as Germany's.
In addition, there are still disagreements on the principles of selecting projects for general financing, especially in the area of competitiveness. Richer countries insist on objective selection criteria, while poorer ones insist on "geographical balance," regardless of the quality of the programs. In addition, many states and MEPs do not share the European Commission's policy of "tanks instead of tractors" — a sharp reduction in spending on the common agricultural policy against the background of increased spending on defense and support for Ukraine.
Also at the current meeting, some EU states demanded increased supervision over the spending of funds from the crisis reserve, which they created for emergency assistance to countries outside the European Union and responding to global crises.
An incomplete member
Another difficulty in providing the tranche is the existence of disagreements about the model of Ukraine's integration into the European Union, which would suit its members and would not be rejected by Kiev. The participants are going to discuss the issue of the country's accession at the meeting of the EU Council on General issues, which is scheduled to be held on June 16. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier that the coming weeks "will be important for taking decisive steps" in this process.
At the end of May, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed granting Kiev the status of an "associate member" as an interim step towards joining the European Union.
This plan involves Ukraine's participation in the work of the EAC structures, the possibility of appointing an associate judge to the European Court and its representatives to the European Parliament, access to the union's budget using a phased expenditure program, as well as integration into all military structures of the community and the extension to the country of article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union, providing for mutual assistance in the field of defense.
But at the same time, Ukraine will not have the right to vote. According to the head of the German government, this would allow Kiev to integrate into the bloc without gaining full membership.
Merz has said more than once before that Ukraine may have prospects of joining the EU, but will not be able to become a member of the European Union by 2027, since all candidates must meet strict criteria.
However, Vladimir Zelensky rejected the German chancellor's proposal, considering it "unfair." According to him, "the time has come to move forward towards full and meaningful membership of Ukraine."
As a result, the issue of Ukraine's accession to the EU remains unresolved, Natalia Yeremina, Professor of the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, said in an interview with Izvestia.
— Not all European Union member states are ready to accept Ukraine. Let's recall at least the referendum on signing the Association Agreement with Ukraine in the Netherlands and its consequences. This also applies to all other agreements related to Ukraine," the expert explained.
The country's accession to the community will have negative consequences for the EU member states themselves, the political scientist warned.
— They will simply kill themselves about Ukraine, because there is a huge amount of financial obligations there. And besides, military commitments will also make themselves felt in full force," the analyst added.
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