EU to offer $15 bn package to Ukraine

The EU plans to propose an aid package of $15 billion to Ukraine in loans and grants over the coming years, the head of the bloc's executive arm,   Associated Press reported, quoting European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

The package would include €1.6 billion in loans and €1.4 billion in grants from the EU budget and up to €8 billion by way of fresh credit from the EU's financial institutions, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Additionally, another €3.5 billion could "potentially" come from the bloc's assistance to neighbouring countries through 2020, according to the EC.

Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso yesterday said the package was designed to assist a committed, inclusive and reforms-oriented government to rebuild a stable and prosperous future Ukraine.

Ukraine's interim government had said it would need $35 billion in international assistance over the next two years, The New York Times reported.

Mass protests started in Ukraine in November last year, after now-deposed president Viktor Yanukovych turned to the Kremlin for financial aid.

The International Monetary Fund offered financial assistance to Ukraine on the condition of strict reform even as Russia offered a $15-billion loan without strings attached.

Following the turmoil in the country, Russia withdrew its loan offer, but the International Monetary Fund was expected to offer its own aid package.