EU releases €250 million of grants to support Ukraine

The European Commission has made the first disbursement of €250 million to Ukraine to support institutions and reforms in the country. This payment is part of the State Building Contract programme signed on 13 May after the joint meeting between the European Commission and the Ukrainian government in Brussels.

“The  disbursement is one of many steps we are currently making to help the government of Ukraine in addressing the short-term needs as well as preparing for the implementation of the Association Agreement. We stand by Ukraine and we are proving it with concrete actions. There is still more to come in terms of financial and other assistance," Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Štefan Füle said.

The State Building Contract is designed to help Ukraine in the process of transformation and with related reforms. It includes concrete steps to promote more transparency, better governance, support the fight against corruption and help the government to respond to citizens’ needs.

It is a major deliverable of the €11 billion support package to Ukraine, which the European Commission announced on 5 March.

Background

State Building Contract (€355m)

The State Building Contract, will provide, in the form of budget support, financial assistance to support the process of transition and preparing reforms in the context of the Association Agreement/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. Concretely, this will be done by strengthening improved governance, the fight against corruption, judiciary reform and public administration reform. This is complemented by a €10m programme aimed to support the civil society.

The overall budget of the State Building Contract programme amounts to €355m, to be disbursed in two tranches. After today’s disbursement of €250m, the second one of €105m will follow in the next months and will be linked to progress in reforms in the areas of anti-corruption, public finance management, civil service, constitutional reform, electoral legislation and justice.

The main expected results are:

• In the area of constitutional and judiciary reform, as well as electoral legislation: an inclusive and participatory process towards reform, in line with international recommendations;

• in the area of anti-corruption, linked to the reform of the justice sector: the enforcement of provisions against illicit enrichment, effective verification of declarations of interest, access to information of public interest, and transparency and competitiveness of public procurement, and;

• in the area of public administration reform: a merit-based civil service reflected in the separation between political and administration positions, separation between public and private sphere, non-political recruitment and promotion of senior and middle level civil servants, sufficient employment stability and protection against discretionary dismissals.

More information

Website of Commissioner Stefan Füle
Website of DG Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid (Eastern Partnership webpage)
Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine
European Commission's support for Ukraine – update 13 May: MEMO/14/279
EU announces new support for Ukraine's transition – State Building Contract (29 April): IP/14/501
European Commission's support to Ukraine (5 March): MEMO/14/159

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