Issue of €90 billion loan for Ukraine could be resolved by 19–20 March, — European Commission

A 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine: the EU says the issue may be resolved

The issue of providing a €90 billion loan to Ukraine could be resolved even before the European Council meeting on March 19–20, as Ukraine has agreed to accept technical and financial assistance from the EU to repair the Druzhba oil pipeline.

This was stated by Paula Pigno, the chief spokesperson for the European Commission, according to Censor.NET, citing the European Parliament.

Details

"As for the loan—this loan, which is of critical importance to Ukraine—discussions are ongoing, and we hope and are confident that we will soon see some progress in these talks. We’ll see. Ideally, this should happen before the European Council meeting," she said.

It is known that the meeting will take place on March 19–20.

"The expert is ready to travel to Ukraine—it’s all happening right now, as we speak—to ensure that all necessary work is carried out in terms of repairs and the restoration of the pipeline, so that oil supplies can finally be resumed," the spokeswoman added.

What happened before?

It was previously reported that the European Commission is seeking to provide Ukraine with a loan of 90 billion euros, despite opposition from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Consequently, efforts are underway to find a way to override his veto, as Ukraine is set to run out of money in March. At the same time, European leaders are reluctant to put pressure on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during the election campaign.
Earlier, European Commission President von der Leyen and European Council President Costa sent a letter to Zelenskyy in which they offered Ukraine technical and financial assistance to resume oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline.
Zelenskyy told EU leaders that it will take about a month and a half to restore transit through the Druzhba pipeline following the Russian strikes.

Russia's attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline

On January 7, a piece of infrastructure was damaged in Brody, Lviv region, as a result of a Russian attack. Naftogaz reported that the Russian military had attacked a critical infrastructure facility in western Ukraine. A fire broke out, and operations at the facility were halted.
According to the publication Enkorr, the facility in question is located in the city of Brody in the Lviv region and is connected to the Druzhba oil pipeline.
On February 12, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline had been suspended since January 27 due to a Russian attack. He also said that Budapest was preparing to lodge a complaint regarding transit issues.
The governments of Hungary and Slovakia have announced a suspension of diesel fuel exports to Ukraine until Russian oil supplies resume via the Druzhba pipeline.
On March 11, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that a group of Hungarian citizens had entered Ukrainian territory without official status or scheduled official meetings.
President Zelenskyy stated that he is unaware of what the Hungarian delegation is doing in Ukraine.
Subsequently, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Zelenskyy of lying and published a Hungarian diplomatic note indicating that Budapest had requested a meeting between Cepec and Ukrainian Minister Denys Shmyhal.
At the same time, the Foreign Ministry's note indicates that the Hungarian side did not coordinate its delegation's visit to the Druzhba oil pipeline with Ukraine and received proposals from Kyiv regarding alternative dates for the visit.