Not only Javelins: what kind of economic assistance Ukraine receives from the West

Gennady Charodeev

The latest sociological survey by the Razumkov Center showed that 71.5% of Ukrainians consider the main causes of the economic crisis in the country not the war, but the incompetence of the authorities and corruption, the PostSoviet Telegram channel reported.

Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko recently said that Kiev expects the European Parliament to approve an unconditional loan of 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) on February 14, and talks have begun with the United States on loan guarantees.

According to the Kiev edition Korrespondent.net, the West said it would help Ukraine to establish reverse gas supplies from Europe and thus ensure energy security. The only problem is that Europe itself does not yet know how to replace Russian gas.

Nevertheless, since February, the first ever physical deliveries of gas from Hungary to Ukraine began. Prior to this, supplies from Europe were virtual - Ukraine took gas that was in transit through its territory from Russia to the EU, paying for it to its European partners.

While this has helped Kiev gain some independence from Moscow, it is still about Russian gas. Gazprom is the largest supplier of blue fuel to Europe, and it will be very difficult to find a replacement for it.

Kiev plans to receive a billion-dollar loan from the UK for the development of the Ukrainian Navy, Defense Express reported.

In terms of financial parameters, this agreement provides that Ukraine will receive 1.7 billion pounds (or 2.28 billion dollars) for the development of the Ukrainian Navy at 2.6% per annum. Loan payments under this agreement can be made in euros, dollars or British pounds sterling. The Ministry of Finance of the country will be the managers of credit money from Ukraine.

The agreement stipulates that the £1.7bn limit can be "exceeded" if necessary. However, the borrowed funds will have to be repaid within ten years. At least 50% of the loan money must be spent on the purchase of British goods and services.

The European Commission, in turn, approved the allocation of a loan of 1.2 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, EC President Ursula von der Leyen said on her Twitter. In December 2021, President Biden signed into law the $768.2 billion U.S. Defense Budget for Fiscal Year 2022, which includes $300 million in military assistance to Ukraine. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania also said that after US approval, they would promptly deliver weapons to Ukraine. Estonia will supply Javelin man-portable anti-tank missile systems, while Latvia and Lithuania will supply Stinger man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems. All of them are made in the USA. Poland also offered Ukraine military-technical assistance. This was announced in an interview with Rzeczpospolita by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Aleksey Reznikov. According to him, although Poland has not yet transferred any weapons to Ukraine, it is providing humanitarian assistance. Thus, according to actualcomment.ru, in total, in recent months, Ukraine has already received about $1.5 billion in support from the West, and more than 1,000 tons of weapons and military equipment.