EU clears €90bn Ukraine loan
- EU ambassadors gave preliminary approval to a €90bn loan package for Ukraine after Hungary dropped its veto. - The package is worth about €90bn, roughly $105–106 billion depending on conversion. - The deadlock eased after Ukraine restarted Russian oil flows via the Druzhba pipeline, and Zelensky called the move “the right signal.” (theguardian.com)
European Union governments cleared the last legal step on Thursday for a €90 billion loan to Ukraine after Hungary dropped months of opposition. (consilium.europa.eu) The Council of the European Union said on April 23 that the package will finance Ukraine’s urgent budget needs and defense industrial capacity in 2026 and 2027, with Commission disbursements due to start in the second quarter of 2026. (consilium.europa.eu) EU ambassadors had already signed off politically on April 22, after Hungary lifted its veto; Reuters reported the 27 member states were expected to complete formal approval a day later. (usnews.com) The money is split in two large pieces: €30 billion for macroeconomic support through macro-financial assistance or the Ukraine Facility, and €60 billion for investment in defense production and procurement. (consilium.europa.eu) The loan is backed by European Union borrowing on capital markets and by unused margin in the EU budget, known as budget headroom. The Council said the debt is meant to be repaid from reparations owed by Russia to Ukraine. (consilium.europa.eu) The legal basis for the package was built in stages. The European Council agreed the €90 billion plan on December 18, 2025, and the EU adopted the core regulation creating the Ukraine Support Loan on February 24, 2026. (data.consilium.europa.eu, eur-lex.europa.eu) Hungary had been blocking the package during a dispute over oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude across Ukraine to Central Europe. Reuters said the deadlock eased after deliveries to Hungary resumed over Ukrainian territory. (uk.finance.yahoo.com) President Volodymyr Zelensky said the EU move was “the right signal” as Brussels also advanced a new sanctions package against Russia. Ukraine now has a new two-year EU financing line as the war enters its fifth year. (theguardian.com, consilium.europa.eu)
