In order to be able to operate public facilities such as hospitals and schools, Ukraine needs billions every month. The EU is now promising further support.

The European Union wants to provide Ukraine with further financial aid of up to nine billion euros. This was announced by EU Council President Charles Michel during a meeting of EU heads of state and government in Brussels.

Ukraine should be able to use the money to cover running costs such as pension payments and the operation of hospitals. It is unclear how much money should be paid out as a grant and how much as a loan.

The EU Commission recently announced that it would propose a corresponding measure. At that time, EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said that the help should consist primarily of loans and, in part, grants. According to Ukrainian information, the country receives the equivalent of almost 4.7 billion euros a month from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. These are the costs that the Ukrainian budget needs for social spending as a result of the war.

The IMF assumes that Ukraine needs aid of around five billion dollars a month to ensure the functioning of the government and important state institutions. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj puts the sum to compensate for the economic losses in Ukraine at around 6.5 billion euros per month. In addition, there would be hundreds of billions for reconstruction.

The international community has already provided Ukraine with money on a number of occasions. According to EU data from mid-May, the European Union has already mobilized 4.1 billion euros in support since the start of the Russian war. This includes 1.5 billion euros for the financing of weapons and military equipment. Last week, the EU states finally agreed on a further 500 million for this purpose.

A week ago, US President Joe Biden signed a billion-euro US aid package for Ukraine into effect. Before Biden signed the law, the US Congress passed the package with a volume of almost $ 40 billion (38 billion euros) by a large majority. Ukraine has also received assurances of support from other countries.