EU Releases €3.47bn for Ukrainian Defense Purchases

The European Union has disbursed a further €3.47bn ($4bn) to Ukraine to finance purchases of drones, missiles, air defense systems and Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets, the European Commission said on Thursday.

The payment is part of a €90bn ($103.2bn) loan package approved by the EU earlier this year.

The Commission transferred an initial €3.2bn ($3.7bn) on 25 June to support Ukrainian government financing. Five days later, it provided €3.9bn ($4.5bn) for drone procurement and €1.1bn ($1.3bn) for other defense purchases.

Including the latest tranche, the EU has now disbursed about €8.5bn ($9.7bn) for Ukrainian defense. The Commission expects that figure to reach €28bn ($32.1bn) by the end of the year.

(Reuters, lud)