Razom We Stand welcomes the Council of the European Union’s endorsement of the Ukraine Plan, which will unlock much-needed support for the state budget within the 50 billion Ukraine Facility Regulation. 

At the same time, it is essential to remember that the Ukraine Facility is far from a charity project. Only 17 billion are non-refundable, while the remaining 33 are loaned, meaning that more than half of the funds will return to the European economy. 

Let's compare how much the European Union still invests in the Russian war machine by buying LNG, pipeline gas, and crude oil. One will understand that the time and effort put into voting for 50 billion in funds should have been spent on addressing the ever-flowing money into Putin’s authoritarian regime. Only in March 2024 did LNG and pipeline gas imported from Russia to the EU amount to more than 17 billion, let alone a year. 

Moreover, as it stands now, “the Commission considers that the Plan meets the necessary criteria and represents a focused and well-balanced response to the objectives of the Ukraine Facility”. The language used to prevent investments in fossil fuels is weak, and the safeguards put in place can be lifted, instrumentalising a recurring phrasal loophole “to the extent possible in a war-torn country”. 

Ukrainian civil society will keep an eye on the proportionality of decisions to overstep the “build-back-better” principle and will use the established mechanisms to trigger amendments to the Council's implementing decision in case of apparent misuse of the Facility’s flexibility.