European Commission names reforms on which billions for Ukraine depend

The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, received a letter signed by two European Commissioners, sent on the eve of the next plenary week, according to Європейська правда.

A copy of the document is in the possession of "European Pravda".

The letter consists of 4 pages, signed by Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economy, and Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement. It contains several tables, as well as a fairly long descriptive part for documents of this type, occupying a full two pages.

The document does not contain references to a specific amount of funding deficit, despite President Zelensky's earlier statements about a "hole" of 27 billion dollars. As sources of "European Pravda" explain, the lack of specificity about the amount is due to the fact that Kyiv has not provided Brussels with the final budget calculation; this is expected to happen in the coming days this week.

However, the EU declares its desire to support Ukraine.

"At a time when Russia has significantly intensified its attacks, inflicting even more losses and suffering on Ukrainians, our determination to support Ukraine only strengthens", the document says.

At the same time, the EU emphasizes that in return it expects Ukraine to demonstrate progress in reforms and reminds that within the framework of the "Ukraine Plan" "assistance in the amount of over 20 billion euros remains available subject to implementation of reforms in accordance with EU requirements".

A condition for the provision of 8 billion of this amount is the adoption of a number of laws, the drafts of which have already been approved by the EU or are under evaluation.

"The annex to this letter sets out a number of priority reforms requiring the adoption of relevant legislative acts", the letter says.

Commissioners Dombrovskis and Kos also emphasized in the letter that Ukraine must adopt these laws not only to receive money.

"The significance of these reforms goes beyond access to financing. Fairer and more efficient tax and customs systems can provide the state with resources and create better conditions for business... Together, these reforms will further strengthen the foundations of a sustainable, competitive and European Ukraine", the letter says in part.

Separately, the European Commissioners stressed the inadmissibility of Ukraine backsliding on previously undertaken commitments, citing as an example the softening of requirements regarding politically exposed persons (so-called "PEPs"). A likely new attack on NABU and SAPO is not mentioned – the letter was drafted before it began.

In the annex to the letter, the European Commission lists the numbers of the draft laws that must be adopted.

It is additionally noted that the EC expects Ukraine to refrain from weakening the regulation on PEPs introduced in draft law 15111-D. A list of 11 reforms for which final drafts have not yet undergone expert review by the European Commission is also provided.

As was reported, the EU still does not know the amount of Ukraine's additional financing needs.

At the same time, discussions continue unofficially about using frozen Russian assets for this purpose.