Kiev and the European Union on Friday signed an agreement on the fourth macrofinancial assistance (MFA) program for Ukraine worth 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2018) Kiev and the European Union on Friday signed an agreement on the fourth macrofinancial assistance (MFA) program for Ukraine worth 1 billion Euros ($1.2 billion), Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
"We have just signed the memorandum of understanding and the loan agreement between Ukraine and the European Union on the fourth macrofinancial assistance program for Ukraine. The agreement on the fourth macro-financial assistance program for Ukraine is a practical result of my previous political agreements with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, reached at the Eastern Partnership summit," Poroshenko, who was present at the signing ceremony, said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, in turn, said that the country expected to receive the first tranche by the end of the year.
"I welcome the signing of the memorandum between Ukraine and the European Union on the fourth macrofinancial assistance program ... We expect the first tranche as soon as the end of the year," Groysman wrote on Facebook.
Since the outbreak of the crisis in eastern Ukraine, the European Union has provided the country with 2.8 billion euros in assistance. In January, an additional installment of 600 million euros had been cancelled over the Ukrainian authorities' failure to implement effective anti-corruption measures.
In early March, the European Commission adopted a proposal for the fourth consecutive MFA program for Ukraine worth 1 billion euros following a request by the Ukrainian authorities. The new loan is expected to be given in two portions over 2.5 years, provided that Ukraine adopts certain policy measures.
