Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has requested an emergency meeting with international donors as Ukraine faces "extremely high uncertainty" about its 2024 budget.
Bloomberg writes about it.
The publication refers to the Ukrainian Prime Ministerʼs letter to the Interdepartmental Donor Coordination Platform (MDCP). According to Bloomberg, it says that the funding is needed as early as January and should be directed towards budgetary needs.
"To maintain macroeconomic stability, it is critical that we receive sufficient, prompt and predictable external financing from January 2024," the letter said, as cited by Bloomberg.
Last week, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine announced that it needs $37.3 billion in foreign aid by 2024. In 2023, Ukraine received over $42 billion of such support.
According to Shmyhal, the coordination platform of donors should focus on the urgent needs of the budget — government support, salaries for teachers, civil servants and pension payments.
"It is hardly possible to have any discussion about recovery and reconstruction projects when we are fighting for the fulfillment of survival priorities in 2024," Shmyhal said in the letter, which was seen by journalists.
Shmyhal called on donors to begin coordination to direct frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. The Kremlin "must pay for war and destruction — and that will be the main source of recovery" in the coming years, the letter said.
"We will make every effort necessary to close the funding gap, but your timely support is needed now more than ever," Shmyhal added.
- The European Commission proposed to allocate €50 billion in financial aid to Ukraine in the form of grants and loans. According to von der Leyen, this aid will provide perspective and predictability for the government in Kyiv, as well as "stimulate other donors to step up." Hungary opposed this plan.
- Viktor Orban claimed that Ukraine should not receive large sums from the budget of the European Union, since it is not part of the bloc. According to Reuters, other leaders assured that they would be able to help Ukraine without Hungaryʼs consent, but then the money would not come from the EU budget.
- And the Financial Times wrote that the European Union is preparing a backup plan to provide Ukraine with €20 billion to bypass the veto of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.