The executive vice-president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, expects that Ukraine will receive the first tranche of 18 billion euros of macro-financial assistance as early as January 2023. He said this at a joint press conference with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal in Kyiv on Friday.

 "By 2023, we aim to cover a significant part of Ukraine's financing needs. We plan to do this with the instruments of "macro-financial assistance+". Next year, this will provide support to Ukraine in the form of soft loans worth up to 18 billion euros," said Dobrovskis.

 "Our proposal for 'macro-financial assistance+' is currently being considered by the European Parliament and the EU Member States, and I hope that its final approval will take place in early December. This should allow us to agree a Memorandum of Understanding already this year, and accordingly the European Commission will be able to make the first disbursement in January of next year," said the vice-president of the European Commission.

 Dombrovskis noted that such a program of macro-financial assistance will include certain conditions - aimed at strengthening the rule of law, good governance, as well as the fight against fraud and corruption.

 At the same time, Shmyhal noted in Telegram that "according to the results of today's negotiations, we expect already in January 2023 the first part of EU funding within the framework of "macrofinancial assistance plus" for a total amount of about 18 billion euros."

 "We continue to deepen Ukraine's integration into the EU single market. In particular, we agreed to review the Priority Action Plan for the implementation of the Free Trade Area Agreement. We are working on joining the EU single roaming zone and "industrial visa-free" as soon as possible, - the head of government said after the negotiations.

 The press service of the government also noted that the parties discussed the mechanisms of confiscation of frozen Russian assets, and Shmygal pointed out the importance for Ukraine of prompt supply of the necessary energy equipment, as well as air defense and anti-missile defense equipment.

 "An important step to increase the pressure on Russia was the proposal of the European Commission to expand the list of crimes, the commission of which gives legal grounds for the confiscation of assets, their sale and the use of these funds for the restoration of Ukraine and the Ukrainian infrastructure. We count on the speedy establishment by the member states at the national level of the legal mechanism of confiscation assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs," the Prime Minister emphasized.