Strengthening debt cooperation: Ministries of Finance of Ukraine and the Republic of Slovenia signed Memorandum

Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia Klemen Boštjančič during his official visit to Kyiv.

Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine Olga Zykova and Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Ukraine Mateja Prevolšek, Director General of the Treasury Directorate at Ministry of Finance of Slovenia Marjan Divjak, and Head of the Minister’s Office Klemen Babnik also took part in the meeting.

The parties discussed a range of topical issues, including the continuation of Ukraine’s European integration. Sergii Marchenko emphasized that Ukraine counts on Slovenia’s further support in advancing its EU accession path.

An outcome of the meeting was the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation aimed at enhancing collaboration in the field of state and state-guaranteed debt management. Under the Memorandum, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia will provide expert support on debt-related risk management.

Minister Marchenko expressed gratitude for Slovenia’s consistent support since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion. As an EU member state, Slovenia has actively backed key decisions critical to Ukraine’s financial resilience.

In particular, Slovenia supported the launch of the EU’s Ukraine Facility for 2024–2027, with a total volume of EUR 50 billion, of which EUR 19.6 billion has already been disbursed to support Ukraine’s budget needs.

The European Union also introduced the ERA Loans Macro-Financial Assistance mechanism, totaling EUR 18.1 billion, with EUR 8 billion already transferred to Ukraine’s State Budget.

Slovenia has contributed around EUR 1.5 million to humanitarian demining and around EUR 1.8 million to the EBRD Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account, supporting economic reforms, improved business climate, and sustainable recovery.

Minister of Finance of Ukraine also welcomed the EU’s consistent policy of increasing sanctions pressure on russia. In particular, he highlighted the importance of reducing the oil price cap under the 18th EU sanctions package.

The parties also discussed further bilateral cooperation. In July 2024, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Slovenia Robert Golob signed a Bilateral Agreement on Security Cooperation and Long-Term Support between Ukraine and the Republic of Slovenia, which will be in force for the 10 years.

The agreement includes:

• assistance in addressing Ukraine’s urgent defence needs;

• allocation of EUR 5 million for humanitarian aid, economic recovery, and the Grain from Ukraine initiative;

• deepened cooperation in cyber security, combating organized crime, intelligence and counterintelligence, and humanitarian demining.

Klemen Boštjančič reaffirmed Slovenia’s readiness to continue providing comprehensive support to Ukraine, including throughout its EU integration process.

Slovenia brings valuable expertise in aligning national legislation with EU law. The Slovenian Centre of Excellence in Finance (CEF) is already actively cooperating with Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance, providing expert support in the reform process.