Ukraine will receive the second tranche of macro-financial assistance from EU in the amount of 600 million euros without any additional conditions. He stated Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis.
“The decision of the second tranche is taken. If you want, it is final. Ukraine can count on the second tranche in the amount of 600 million euros. It’s decided,” – said Dombrovskis, supposedly refuting the existence of additional requirements in order for Ukraine to receive the money.
Vice-President of the EC stressed that Kiev has fulfilled all conditions for the second tranche, which is reflected in the Memorandum of understanding (MOU). However, he drew attention to the fact that Brussels “is the space as to which the tranche applies certain conditions”.
“In the case of the second tranche the conditions for his release were completed. In addressing the question of the abolition of the ban on the export of timber is already some progress – the relevant bill was registered in Parliament. The EU has room to manoeuvre, and when we see that there has been significant progress in all spheres, the question, work in progress, may not be the reason why we would not have allocated to this tranche,” – said Dombrovskis.
Vice-President of the EC also pointed to the fact that the issue of the ban on the export of timber still needs to be settled in the context of the third tranche.
Answering the question of why the issue of timber has become so important for the European Commission, Dombrovskis noted that one of the conditions for macro-financial assistance program is a condition “not to impose new trade restrictive measures, which is not deep and comprehensive free trade area, whose creation is envisaged by the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine.”
“When we signed the Association Agreement, by providing for the establishment of a deep and comprehensive free trade area with Ukraine, one of the points to provide macro-financial assistance was that the new restrictive trade measures will not be imposed. We discussed this issue after the moratorium was introduced. In February the draft law on the abolition of the ban was sent to Parliament, and we therefore believe that in this condition there is progress. We received assurances from the President and from the government that the Ukrainian side will try to make further progress on this issue fairly quickly,” he detailed it.
We will remind, on March 16, the European Commission previously approved the allocation of 600 million Euro macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.
The Verkhovna Rada on 9 April 2015 passed a law, which for 10 years has banned the export of timber and lumber in its raw form (forest-“logs”). The ban on the export of timber tree species (except pine) was introduced from 1 November 2015, tree species pine trees – from 1 January 2017.
Currently, the Verkhovna Rada registered a draft law to replace the current moratorium on the export of unprocessed wood proposes to introduce an interim 15% duty on the export of such timber and the registration of the relevant foreign trade contracts.
Note that the moratorium on the export of roundwood, as the prospect of its abolition, is a “stumbling block” and a source of active debate in Ukraine. EU officials have repeatedly stressed the need to lift this moratorium and were tied to the removal of this restriction, the next tranche of macro-financial assistance.
Cancel another famous moratorium on sale of agricultural land, is one of the essential requirements Mezhdunarodnogo monetary Fund. As a result, in March 2017, the government of Ukraine expects to receive from the IMF of the next credit tranche in the amount of one billion U.S. dollars.
As you know, the EU provides Ukraine with financial assistance for a period of 2.5 years – the term of assistance expires January 4, 2018.
At the request of Ukraine at the end of 2014 on additional financial aid as a result of deterioration of its macroeconomic situation, 8 January 2015, the European Commission proposed to provide Ukraine with a package of macro-financial economic assistance worth up to € 1.8 billion to mitigate external needs of the country funding.
The Commission’s proposal was adopted by casacanditella April 15, 2015. 22 may 2015, Ukraine and the EU in Riga signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) and loan agreement (LFA) in the third program of macroeconomic assistance of the EU. These two documents were ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 18 June 2015 and entered into force on 3 July 2015. The first tranche under the new programme (EUR 600 million) was paid on 22 July 2015.
After the separation of Ukraine tranche in the amount of 600 million euros, agreed on 16 March 2017, the total amount of loans from the EU received in Ukraine, will amount to 2.81 billion Euro since the beginning of 2014.
This amount includes 1.61 billion euros, paid in 2014-2015 in the framework of the two previous operations macro-financial assistance the EU and EUR 1.2 billion in the third, continuing operations.
The European Commission said that Ukraine will be able to use the final amount of 600 million euros in the third program of financial aid subject to the successful implementation of the measures referred to in the Memorandum of understanding that Ukraine has agreed with the EU.
