Remarks by Vice-President Dombrovskis at the signing the Memorandum of Understanding with Ukraine

Riga, 22 May 2015

I am very honored today to sign the Memorandum of Understanding and Loan Agreement with Ukraine on behalf of the European Union and the European Commission.

The Memorandum of Understanding foresees a third Macro-Financial Assistance Programme for Ukraine, amounting up to €1.8 billion.

I would like to thank both the EU and Ukrainian negotiators for their intensive work, which they have carried out to ensure a speedy agreement on the Memorandum of Understanding, which also foresees key reform commitments, as regards the Ukrainian side, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of its economy, in order to strengthen the governance of public finances and a number of other important areas of reform.

This Macro-Financial Assistance Programme follows two other Macro-Financial Assistance Programmes, amounting to a total of €1.61 billion. This is the largest Macro-Financial Assistance Programme which has ever been committed to a non-EU country.

We are aware of the serious challenges Ukraine is facing, both in terms of the economy and as regards the security situation in Ukraine. We are encouraged to see the reform effort of the government, commitment of the government to strengthen Ukraine’s economy and to strengthen ties with European Union.

Once again, I am very honored to be here for this opportunity to sign Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the European Union.

European Commission

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-15-5031_en.htm?locale=en