STOCKHOLM — Ukraine’s budget needs for next year will remain as high as for this year, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Saturday before joining a meeting of EU finance ministers where support for Ukraine will be discussed.
The European Union is providing Kyiv with €18 billion in loans this year to help fill a budget hole estimated at around $3 billion to $4 billion per month. Grants from the U.S. and loans from the International Monetary Fund, as well as minor bilateral contributions, make up for the rest.
“Concerning possible financing needs for 2024, this also will be huge,” Marchenko said, adding: “I think that it will not be an easy task for us to decrease drastically our expenses. Of course it depends on the military campaign, but I think it could be no less than the €18 billion as we [had] for this year.”
Asked whether the EU was ready to repeat that level of support for next year, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said that “the discussion about next year from the point of view of figures and exact numbers depends on the discussion we are starting on the budget of the [European] Union, but undoubtedly we will continue our support with the same commitment as we have in recent years.”
The EU is going to review its budget in June, an exercise meant to find extra money for a number of priorities, such as so-called macro-financial assistance for third countries including Ukraine.
