Good afternoon, dear colleagues, fellow Ukrainians.

Since the first day of the full-scale invasion, our Government has set several priorities.

The first is to provide the Security and Defence Forces with the necessary resources to withstand and win.

The second is to keep the economy going and attract resources to maintain the financial stability of our country.

The third is to help those who need it most. To continue and expand social programmes to support our people.

For almost two years of the major war, we have never delayed the payment of pensions, subsidies or other social benefits.

This week we have completed the payment of all pensions for January. This means that every pensioner has received their money. In total, we have allocated almost UAH 58 billion for this purpose.

In February, we will also fully fund all pensions, subsidies and benefits. This is our commitment to Ukrainians.

We understand the importance of this support for people.

Therefore, the social sphere has been and remains among the priorities of our Government.

Today, we will decide to automatically extend all payments for all internally displaced persons until 1 March.

From 1 March, new fair rules for the support of IDPs will come into force.

Payments to IDPs who are pensioners will be extended for another 6 months.

Payments will be extended for our citizens with group 1 or 2 disabilities, for children with disabilities, for orphans and children deprived of parental care.

We will also continue payments to able-bodied citizens who have registered with the Employment Centre or found a job.

The Ministry of Social Policy will communicate everything in detail.

In total, the state will continue to support more than 1.5 million internally displaced persons with payments.

At the same time, we will continue to provide more targeted support instruments to help those who really need it.

***

In order to fully fund all priority payments of the state budget, we continue to actively work on raising funds from our partners and allies.

On 1 February we expect the EU to approve a new four-year EUR 50 billion assistance programme for Ukraine – the Ukraine Facility.

For the time being, we can say that all 27 EU members have agreed to support this programme.

This year, we expect that the EU will be able to provide us with financial assistance at the level of 2023. In order to cover the budget deficit, it is important to attract about EUR 18 billion from the European Union.

This week we also had a conversation with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.

The primary issue was the package of financial support from the United States.

President Biden’s administration intends to provide Ukraine with USD 11.8 billion in budget support this year.

We expect a positive decision of the U.S. Congress on this issue in the near future.

Another important decision from Washington is the approval by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee of a bill that will allow the confiscation of russian assets and their transfer to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience and reconstruction.

We are doing everything possible to make the relevant mechanism work this year, both in the U.S. and in other countries.

We are working to strengthen the resilience of our country, to provide fair assistance to our citizens and to ensure our victory.

Thank you for your attention.

Glory to Ukraine!