Ukraine ratifies €90 billion European Union loan

May 29, 2026

1–2 minutes

Summary

Ukraine's parliament approved a €90 billion European Union loan, with funds set for defense, energy resilience, and the budget.

Why this matters

The vote secures a major source of financing for Ukraine as it manages wartime spending and budget pressures. It also ties future aid to reforms backed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Ukraine’s parliament ratified a loan agreement with the European Union on Thursday, clearing the way for €90 billion in financing as the government plans higher spending on defense, energy resilience, and the budget deficit.

The agreement passed with 298 votes, above the 226 needed for a majority. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked lawmakers and European partners after the vote.

“This was one of the most important votes – one that demonstrates the constructive nature of our joint work and our readiness to hear one another,” Zelenskiy said.

“Unity in Ukraine is what always works for Ukraine.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the vote cleared the way for the first disbursements in June.

Ukraine’s government expects €3.2 billion next month and €45 billion this year, with the remaining €45 billion planned for 2027.

“The funds will be allocated to national defence and security, strengthening energy resilience and covering the budget deficit,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

“Support from the EU enables Ukraine to maintain macro-financial stability and fulfil its social obligations to its people.”

Parliament also gave preliminary approval to amend the 2026 state budget to reflect higher international aid. Under the bill, the government would spend €31.8 billion from the European Union loan on defense and €13.2 billion on the budget gap.

That would raise Ukraine’s overall defense spending to about $100 billion this year, from a previous forecast of $64 billion. Defense spending last year was about $61.4 billion.

The European Union funding would reduce the 2026 budget deficit to 12.1% of gross domestic product from 18.5% initially planned.

Loan payments are tied to reforms, and any reversal in anti-corruption efforts could trigger a temporary suspension of aid. Conditions are similar to those in Ukraine’s program with the International Monetary Fund, including steps to raise domestic revenue, increase transparency, and ensure fair business conditions.

Some measures, including higher taxes for individual entrepreneurs and taxes on parcels, are unpopular and could face resistance in parliament. An International Monetary Fund monitoring mission is in Kyiv for the first review of its $8.1 billion lending program.

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Myers said the device may have reduced in-person interaction and made it easier to access pornography and information on contraception, factors she said weighed on birth rates.

“What we are seeing is that the places that have the iPhone have big fertility changes relative to the other places,” Myers told CBS News.

The study used a natural experiment created by the iPhone’s exclusive availability on AT&T from 2007 through 2011. Myers compared birth rates in U.S. counties with broad AT&T coverage, and therefore early iPhone access, with counties that had limited access.

She said she tested whether the results instead reflected the 2008 financial crisis hitting AT&T-covered areas, which were concentrated in cities, harder than other places. After controlling for economic and demographic factors, she said the iPhone effect remained.

“I said, ‘Wow, but this has to be too big,’” Myers recalled. “I was like, ‘Let me try everything I can to explain away what I’m seeing in the data,’ and I just couldn’t.”

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