First €1.5 billion of proceeds from frozen Russian assets to be allocated to Ukraine before summer vacation - Dombrovskis
The first payment to Ukraine of €1.5 billion from the windfall from frozen Russian assets will be disbursed before the "beginning of the summer vacation".
According to Censor.NET, citing Interfax-Ukraine, this was announced by Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis.
At a press conference in Luxembourg after the EU Economic Council meeting, Dombrovskis said: "In May, Member States agreed to use the windfall proceeds from Russia's frozen assets to benefit Ukraine. We estimate that this year our measures will make it possible to allocate up to €3 billion, and we expect the first payment of €1.5 billion to be made before the summer vacation."
He also recalled the already known plans of the European Commission to use these funds for military support to Ukraine: "We are working in full swing so that the first purchases can be made as soon as possible."
Dombrovskis also welcomed last week's G7 agreement to provide Ukraine with loans worth about $50 billion from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
"As you know, most of these assets - more than 200 billion euros - are blocked in the EU. The G7 statement provides for additional loans to Ukraine by the end of the year. "The G7 is now implementing these commitments by using future external revenue streams to service and repay the loans. We are also discussing future steps at the EU level, including the size and terms of the EU loan," he said.
At the same time, Dombrovskis noted that the EU will work to mobilize more funding for Ukraine using the extraordinary proceeds from frozen Russian assets.
"So instead of EU taxpayers paying for the destruction caused by Russia, Russia itself will pay," he concluded.
Earlier it was reported that the G-7 countries agreed to provide Ukraine with a €50 billion loan from the frozen assets of the Russian Federation.
