PRESS RELEASE : President of Ukraine met with the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission [November 2022]

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 18 November 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, who is on a visit to Kyiv.

The Head of State thanked the representative of the European Commission for the important EU’s steps on the financial support for Ukraine during a long period of time and especially during the full-scale invasion of Russia starting from February 24 this year.

“Ukraine’s ability to continue to withstand Russia’s aggression, the ability of our budget to withstand financial challenges, the energy crisis caused by the war is extremely important,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.

He informed the Vice-President of the European Commission about the consequences of Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian objects, as well as about the measures our state is taking to quickly restore all life support systems for citizens.

The interlocutors focused on issues of urgent financial support for Ukraine until the end of the current year and coordination of plans for 2023. Special attention was paid to the macro-financial assistance from the European Union, additional tools for attracting resources and the coordinating role of Brussels in the financial support for Ukraine, in particular from the IMF.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the European Commission for presenting a new large-scale financial assistance program for 2023 in the amount of 18 billion euros and expressed the expectation that Ukraine will be able to receive the first tranche as early as January.

For his part, Valdis Dombrovskis noted that the EU will continue to support Ukraine, put pressure on the aggressor – the Russian Federation – and do everything to help our country win this war.

During the meeting, the parties also discussed the Fast Recovery Plan for housing and social infrastructure facilities and the involvement of the European Commission in the launch of the Ukraine Reconstruction Fund, in particular by working out the mechanism for using Russian assets frozen in the EU.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Valdis Dombrovskis paid special attention to the effectiveness of the European Union’s sanctions policy, in particular in the energy, mining and banking spheres, as well as the blocking of Russian propaganda media.

The President of Ukraine emphasized the importance of designating Russia as a terrorist state by the European Union.

Separately, Volodymyr Zelenskyy focused on the results achieved on the way of implementing EU recommendations and integrating our economy into the internal market of the European Union. He thanked for the decision to liberalize trade between Ukraine and the EU until June 2023 and expressed hope for the transformation of the temporary trade liberalization into a full and permanent one.

In addition, the importance of continuing the liberalization of road transportation, the implementation of a pilot project on integration into the EU internal market in the field of roaming and the conclusion of an agreement on “industrial visa-free regime” was noted.

The Head of State also informed about the launch of the “Grain from Ukraine” humanitarian program in Odesa and expressed hope for the participation of the leadership of the European Commission in this event.