EU member states approve EUR 5 billion loan for Ukraine

The member states of the European Union formally approved a loan of five billion euros for Ukraine on Tuesday, the Czech News Agency reports. EU finance ministers agreed on the aid, which will cover Ukraine's expenses for about a month, at an informal meeting in Prague last week.

The approved loan follows from an EU summit at the end of May where leaders gave the green light to a financial support package worth nine billion euros. However, due to disputes over the method of guarantee, only one billion has been released so far. Czech finance minister Zbyněk Stanjura declared today on behalf of the Czech EU presidency that he will press for the approval of the remaining three billion euros from the aforementioned package at further meetings with his colleagues.

The European Commission wants to release the approved financial support in installments. Ukraine could receive the first installment in October.