European Union to add aid for Ukraine in 2023 budget

• The move is likely to make the ties between the 27-nation bloc and EU candidate Ukraine even stronger.
• Ukraine has been struggling to keep its government running while fighting Russia’s invasion.
• In May, the EU agreed to give Ukraine 9 billion euros in aid, but the first payment of 1 billion euros didn’t happen until July.

The finance ministers of the European Union agreed to add support payments to Ukraine to the EU’s budget for 2023. This will make payments more structured and predictable, according to the vice president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis.

The move is likely to make the ties between the 27-nation bloc and EU candidate Ukraine even stronger. Ukraine has been struggling to keep its government running while fighting Russia’s invasion, which has been going on for almost eight months.

Dombrovskis told reporters after a meeting of ministers that EU payments to Ukraine this year were not very regular. This is a worry for Kyiv, which needs to pay public workers’ salaries and pensions on time.

In May, the EU agreed to give Ukraine 9 billion euros in aid, but the first payment of 1 billion euros didn’t happen until July.

Dombrovskis said that the next payment of 5 billion euros would be sent by the middle of October, and the last 3 billion euros would be sent in two payments in November and December.

“It is important to have a more predictable flow for Ukraine next year, so our intention is to integrate it into the EU budget discussions for 2023 and in this way make it a more steady flow. There was agreement on this approach among the ministers,” Dombrovskis said.

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