Brussels has decided to pause financial support for Ukraine because of the undermining of the independence of anti-corruption bodies (news about it here). The Ukrainian Economic Pravda notes that the independent anti-corruption vertical became a kind of guarantor that tens of billions of euros, which are annually allocated to support Ukraine, would not be plundered. However, on July 22, 2025, with a light hand of the authorities, this fuse was removed.
Although EU authorities have since expressed concern about what is happening in Ukraine, they have publicly stated that the suspension of funding is off the table for now. However, on 26 July, The New York Times reported that the EU was cutting funding to Ukraine due to the adoption of the law on restricting the independence of the NABU and the SAP.
“Ekonomicheskaya Pravda” in this regard clarifies that in fact the reduction concerns the next tranche, and is not related to anti-corruption bodies, but to Ukraine’s failure to fulfill a number of control conditions as early as the first quarter of 2025. For example, President Zelensky did not sign in time the law on strengthening the institutional capacity of the Agency for the Identification, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA). Because of this, the size of the next EU tranche was reduced from 4.5 billion euros to 3 billion euros.
The situation with the fulfillment of obligations for the second quarter of 2025 is even worse. In April-June, Ukraine fulfilled only 5 out of 11 requirements of the EU, which may lead to a reduction of the next tranche by 2-3bn euros.
At the same time, the publication notes that Ukraine deliberately signed up for a reduction in tranches after the start of the Ukraine Facility in 2023. The principle of the program is money in exchange for reforms, so failure to meet the prescribed targets does have consequences for the financing.
Ukraine has already received $138.9bn in foreign aid since the start of the war in 2022, almost half of which was provided by the EU.
