In Washington, D.C., Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko met with the heads of the Ministries of Finance of the European Union.

In particular, with Minister of Finance of Belgium Vincent Van Peteghem, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands Steven van Weyenberg, Minister of Finance of Latvia Arvils Ašeradens, Minister of Finance of Poland Andrzej Domański, Minister of Finance of Lithuania Gintarė Skaistė, Minister of Finance of Finland Riikka Purra and Federal Minister of Finance of Austria Magnus Brunner. 

Deputy Minister of Finance Olga Zykova, Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa and Deputy Minister of Finance for European Integration Yuriy Draganchuk also participated in the meetings.

Sergii Marchenko expressed gratitude to the partners for their assistance and reliance on further efficient cooperation between the ministries:

"EU integration is a priority for the Government of Ukraine. Cooperation with the ministries of finance of European countries is extremely important in this regard. We strive to deepen the dialogue, exchange of experience and expertise in order to accelerate the harmonization of Ukrainian regulations and standards with the European ones."

In the context of the discussion of the State Budget of Ukraine, the Minister of Finance noted that the priority is to accumulate resources for the security and defense sector, to develop the defense industry and to provide social protection for citizens. 

The Ministry of Finance is already engaged in active negotiations with partners to raise the necessary funds in 2025.

"I am grateful to the EU countries for supporting the launch of the Ukraine Facility for 2024-2027. The medium-term nature of the program will allow us to improve the planning and management of the State Budget over the next three years. We have made significant progress. We signed a EUR 6 billion Bridge financing Agreement, of which EUR 4.5 billion has already been disbursed. The Government of Ukraine has also approved the Ukraine Plan, and the European Commission has given a positive assessment of the document as one that meets the goals of Ukraine's European integration. We expect that the EU Council will support the Ukraine Plan, which will pave the way to regular funding based on the results of Ukraine's implementation of the Plan's indicators," said Sergii Marchenko. 

The EU's budget support, together with bilateral assistance from countries, since February 2022, amounts to about EUR 33 billion. It is expected that next week Ukraine will receive another EUR 1.5 billion in Bridge financing under the EU's Ukraine Facility.

European colleagues expressed support for Ukraine and readiness to strengthen cooperation on the path of Ukraine's European integration.