Sergii Marchenko held several meetings with ministers and representatives of ministries of European partner countries

During the working visit to Morocco for the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko held several meetings with ministers and representatives of ministries of European countries.

In particular, he met with Minister of Finance of Sweden Elisabeth Svantesson, First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister for Economy and Digitalisation Nadia Calvino, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Netherlands Sigrid Kaag, Minister of Finance of Lithuania Gintare Skaiste, Minister of Finance of Latvia Arvils Aseradens, Minister of Finance of Belgium Vincent van Peteghem, Minister of Finance of Finland Riikka Purra, State Secretary from the Ministry of Finance of Norway Erlend Grimstad.

The meetings were attended by Deputy Minister of Finance Olga Zykova, Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa and Deputy Minister of Finance for European Integration Yuriy Draganchuk.

Sergii Marchenko thanked the partner countries for their assistance to Ukraine and expressed his hope for further fruitful cooperation between the ministries.

"The scale of the challenges that Ukraine has faced since the start of the full-scale russian invasion is unprecedented. However, we have been able to successfully withstand the consequences of the war thanks to the unity of Ukrainians, effective government policy and strong international support. Today, our financial system is undoubtedly in a better condition than a year ago, the economy is showing a gradual recovery, inflation is falling more than expected and tax revenues have returned to pre-war levels," the Minister of Finance of Ukraine said.

Sergii Marchenko also thanked the European partners for their systematic assistance in allocating financial resources for the priority expenditures of the State Budget of Ukraine.

"This year, funds from international partners are coming in rhythmically and predictably, which allows us to finance the State Budget expenditures in a timely manner and in full. This was largely made possible by the large-scale support from the EU in the form of Macro-Financial Assistance in the amount of EUR 18 billion for 2023," the Minister of Finance of Ukraine added.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has received EUR 20.7 billion of financial support from the EU under the Macro-Financial Assistance. 

During the meetings with the partners, the unfunded budget needs of Ukraine for 2024 were discussed. The budget deficit is projected at USD 42.9 billion.  

Ukraine and the EU are actively cooperating on launching a new 4-year EUR 50 billion Ukraine Facility programme. The funds will be used for Ukraine's budgetary needs and recovery. 

Sergii Marchenko welcomed the recent decision of the European Parliament to support the initiative to establish the Ukraine Facility. 

The European colleagues expressed their principled support for Ukraine and readiness to deepen cooperation on the path of Ukraine's European integration.