BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union was set to unveil on Tuesday an aid package for Ukraine worth 50 billion euros ($55 bln), two officials said ahead of a formal announcement.
The figure – due to be unveiled by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – comes after a review of the bloc’s 2021-27 budget and ahead of an international conference in London on Wednesday and Thursday on raising funds to rebuild Ukraine from a war Russia unleashed on it a year and a half ago.
One of the sources, a senior EU official, said the total included 33 billion euros in macro-financial assistance to help replenish Kyiv’s state coffers as it fights back against Russia. For 2023, the EU has offered 18 billion in such support to Kyiv.
Ahead of the London talks, a senior Ukrainian official said Kyiv was seeking up to $40 billion for the first part of a “Green Marshall Plan” to rebuild its economy from the war.
The World Bank estimates Ukraine’s reconstruction will cost more than $400 billion, three times the country’s gross domestic product.
($1 = 0.9151 euros)
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Marine Strauss, Peter Graff)
