Ukraine's PM and European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity discuss three issues concerning EU financial aid for Ukraine

Following a video conference between European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis and Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi on 7 September, the European Commission said it was too early to name a specific amount for Ukraine's financial needs in 2026-2027, and that work to determine it would continue at the technical level.

Source: European Commission spokesperson Balázs Ujvári following the meeting, as reported by European Pravda from Brussels

Details: The European Commission has not yet finalised its assessment of Ukraine's financial needs for 2026 and 2027.

Ujvári said that Dombrovskis and Koretskyi discussed three main issues.

"So they discussed the financing needs of Ukraine for 2026 and 2027. That's one. Second, they looked at the implementation of the reforms which are needed in order to unlock the funding under the €90 billion loan programme. And thirdly, they looked at the preparations for Ukraine's 2027 financing strategy," Ujvári said.

He recalled that to gain access to the funds under the €90 billion loan, Ukraine must prepare financial strategies for both 2026, which has already been prepared and approved, and 2027.

According to Ujvári, "the two sides also agreed that it is important for other international partners to step up to the plate and put forward assistance, be it in the budgetary field or in the field of defence, on top of what the EU has committed".

Ujvári cited Norway as an example, noting that it had recently committed to providing Ukraine with US$9 billion in 2027.

"So this is a good example. This is the path. And we expect other partners as well to step up to the plate," he said.

Meanwhile, the European Commission stressed that the specific scale of Ukraine's financial needs still needs to be determined.

"I think what you need to do first is to get a clear picture of what the budgetary or financial situation is. That is step number one. And then as a potential step number two, you can look at ways of addressing it," Balázs Ujvári explained.

He said that Dombrovskis and Koretskyi's conversation focused specifically on the first stage – assessing the situation and obtaining information from the Ukrainian side.

"So before we can establish a concrete figure, more discussions will be needed. And that's exactly what we'll be doing in the coming days and weeks," he said.

On 8 September, Dombrovskis is also due to meet with Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. According to the spokesperson, the sides will discuss the results of the IMF mission that worked in Ukraine last week.

"The macro financial assistance programme of the EU is highly linked to the IMF programme, which is being rolled out in the country. The common goal there is to get Ukraine to advance reforms which strengthen the country's economic resilience," Balázs Ujvári stressed.

Background:

• The EU previously recalled that the €90 billion in assistance would cover only two-thirds of Ukraine's needs in 2026-2027.
• The EU recently said that Ukraine had not submitted a formal request to the European Commission asking for part of the €90 billion loan planned for 2027 to be disbursed ahead of schedule in 2026 in order to cover Ukraine's €27 billion defence budget shortfall this year.
• On 24 August, the European Commission approved €6.1 billion in defence procurement for Ukraine as part of the EU's €90 billion loan.
• The EU is expected to disburse around €20 billion to Ukraine by the end of 2026, with new tranches potentially arriving in the coming weeks.

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