Top official says EU to provide Ukraine $15 billion aid package in loans and grants

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Washington Post

BRUSSELS — Top official says EU to provide Ukraine $15 billion aid package in loans and grants.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/top-official-says-eu-to-provide-ukraine-15-billion-aid-package-in-loans-and-grants/2014/03/05/f2d6de48-a458-11e3-b865-38b254d92063_story.html

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Just breaking.

The European Commission has approved measures to help Ukraine amounting to €11bn Štefan Füle, the European commissioner for enlargement and European neighbourhood policy, has just tweeted.

Ukraine is in dire need of financial assistance. It has said it needs $35bn over the next two years to survive. A $15 billion aid package agreed with Moscow last year after Viktor Yanukovych decided not to sign a wide-ranging association agreement with the EU was frozen after he was ousted.

see BBC live http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26445666

[dipsydoodle]

1. If the EU had offered that in December the talks may not have failed.

At that time the EU offered $1 billion only despite a request then for $8 billion.

[Demeter]

2. Bait and Switch, no doubt

The EU cannot give what it doesn't have. And Germany (the only surviving Eurozone economy) is anything but charitable.

The Ukrainians are foolish.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. No, it's not from Germany

The European Union is ready to provide 11 billion euros ($15 billion) of financial support to Ukraine over the next couple of years via a series of loans and grants, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday.

The assistance would be delivered in coordination with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank, and is in part contingent on Ukraine signing a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

"The package combined could bring an overall support of at least 11 billion euros over the next couple of years, from the EU budget and EU-based international financial institutions," Barroso told a news conference.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/05/us-eu-ukraine-support-idUSBREA240V020140305

[dipsydoodle]

4. It is pretty much Germany's money though

in terms of source. I'm guessing they will attach the same terms as the IMF.

[another_liberal]

5. Have the conditions Ukraine will have to meet been announced as well?

Surely this is not to be an unconditional loan or grant? There will almost have to be some pretty painful austerity measures. How much will Kiev have to cut workers pensions and basic public assistance, not to mention how many non-military government employed staff will have to be laid off or have their salaries slashed? We already know the current technocrat "Interim President" is going to open his country up to wholesale "investment" by our Western vulture capitalists. He clearly intimated as much in his first public speech after seizing office.

It does seem highly unlikely the already cash-strapped EU is going to shell out this kind of money without insisting on some drastic policy changes on the part of the coup government in Ukraine, just to enhance the chances they will eventually get paid back.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Probably be similar to those applied to Greece

plus currency devaluation which obviously couldn't be applied to Greece

[another_liberal]

8. That is about what I expected as well.

These "Interim Government" people need the money, so I imagine lenders will get whatever they ask for, and the Ukrainian people will do the suffering for it.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Official press release : European Commission's support to Ukraine

This document sets out the main concrete measures that the Commission is proposing for the short and medium term to help stabilise the economic and financial situation in Ukraine, assist with the transition, encourage political and economic reforms and support inclusive development for the benefit of all Ukrainians. These measures combined could bring overall support of at least €11 billion over the coming years from the EU budget and EU based international financial institutions (IFIs) in addition to the significant funding being provided by the IMF and World Bank.

All these measures should be seen as the Commission's contribution to a European and international effort at providing a sustainable way out of Ukraine's difficult economic situation and to support its economic and political transition. The action of Member States in complementing and reinforcing what the Commission can mobilise on its own is crucial. The participation of partner countries as well as of the international financial institutions, notably the IMF, the EIB, the EBRD and the World Bank, is essential to leverage what we can all offer, increase the visibility of our collective action and improve its impact. All elements and instruments need to be pulled together to ensure an effective and coherent European Union and international response.

Part of the EU's effort is to support Ukraine on its path towards political and economic reform, including those set out in the Association Agreement /Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (AA/DCFTA), which we stand ready to sign. It is essential to raise public awareness in Ukraine as well as in third countries on the benefits and opportunities that such reforms can offer both for Ukraine and the region as a whole.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-159_en.htm?locale=en

[Xolodno]

9. I think this is already over with.

Kerry's speech yesterday and everything else seems like posturing. Was watching Gen. Wesley Clark on CNN and he more or less stated Putin is going to stop right here and wait as he got what he wanted. He now just has to wait for the West to give into his concessions.