EU pledges $38 billion to support Ukraine with Russian funds

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced in Kyiv on Friday that the European Union will provide Ukraine with a $38 billion loan. It will be secured by frozen Russian assets. This solution was agreed upon in the G7 format.

- We should force Russia to pay for the damages it causes, emphasized von der Leyen at a joint conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

As part of the sanctions, the EU has frozen Russian assets worth approximately $217 billion. Until now, the Community has agreed to transfer profits from their trading to Ukraine. Now, the immobilized assets themselves are to be used.

Von der Leyen said that Ukraine will receive the loan quickly, and it will be secured by Russian funds. The funds will go directly to the Ukrainian budget, and Kyiv will decide what to do with them.

- Russia attacks Ukraine's energy infrastructure every day, so we thank the European Union for the support that helps maintain it, declared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after talks with the President of the EC in Kyiv.

- The timely implementation of all our agreements is crucial. I would particularly like to thank you for the announcement of additional EU energy support for Ukraine worth $173 million, of which $108 million comes from the revenues from frozen Russian assets, he said.

The heating season starts in two weeks. Thanks to EU assistance with repairs and energy exports from the EU, 25% of Ukraine's energy needs for the winter will be covered, according to the speech on the EC's website by President Ursula von der Leyen.

According to EC data, Ukraine needs 17 GW of electricity generation capacity for the winter. However, 80% of Ukraine's thermal power plants and a third of its hydroelectric capacity have been destroyed.

Von der Leyen emphasized that we will focus our repair efforts on restoring 2.5 gigawatts of generation capacity this winter. This is about 15% of Ukraine's needs.