The European Commission has set out the framework under which EU countries will approve the remaining €45 billion of the bloc’s €90 billion loan programme for Ukraine, with the money to be disbursed by the end of 2027.
The Commission said on Friday that half of the €90 billion programme is set to be disbursed in 2026, and that it had issued a positive assessment of Ukraine’s financing strategy. The new framework covers the second half of the programme, which member states still need to approve.
Of the amount to be disbursed next year, €13.3 billion is earmarked as budget support, while the remaining €31.7 billion is set aside to finance Ukraine’s defence industrial capacity. The split reflects the programme’s two purposes: keeping Ukraine’s public services running while strengthening its ability to produce the weapons and equipment it needs.
“With today’s proposal, we are providing Ukraine with much-needed predictability and helping maintain essential public services,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
The loan programme was agreed by EU leaders last autumn to cover Ukraine’s military and budgetary needs for 2026 and 2027, after a plan to fund Kyiv from frozen Russian central bank assets stalled. It is being run through enhanced cooperation involving 24 of the EU’s 27 member states, with the money raised through EU borrowing on capital markets and backed by the EU budget. Overall, about two-thirds of the €90 billion is intended for military assistance and the rest for general budget support, with the funding conditional on reforms aimed at modernising the Ukrainian state and bringing it closer to EU membership.
The announcement comes as Kyiv’s financing needs remain acute and Brussels presses allies to contribute more. The EU has said it expects partners outside the bloc to help cover the rest of Ukraine’s funding gap for 2027, with the bloc’s loan covering roughly two-thirds of what Ukraine needs over the two years.
Note on sourcing: the Commission’s announcement does not specify a date for final member-state approval of the remaining tranche, and the details above rest on the Commission’s statement as reported by Reuters.
Sources: Reuters, “EU Commission sets up framework for EU countries to approve remaining Ukraine loan by 2027”, https://www.reuters.com/business/eu-commission-sets-up-framework-eu-countries-approve-remaining-ukraine-loan-by-2026-10-30/
