BRUSSELS, April 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine's funding needs for 2026 are covered, a senior EU official said, with the EU likely to make the first disbursement from its 90 billion euro loan at the end of May or in early June and other donors keeping Kyiv funded until then.
Ukraine, which is fighting off a Russian invasion since 2022, was to run out of money in April and the European Union agreed last year on a 90 billion euro loan for 2026 and 2027 to keep it liquid.
But Russia-friendly Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had blocked the EU disbursement. Orban lost elections in Hungary on April 12 and the leader of the winning party Peter Magyar has said he would no longer block EU funds for Kyiv.
"There may still be some movement while Prime Minister Orban is in office. I do not want to be overly optimistic before seeing it happen, given the many delays so far," European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said.
"If it happens this week, that would be very good. If not, we will have to wait for the new prime minister. In any case, I believe we will be able to unlock the situation," he said.
The EU loan for this year and next cover around two thirds of Ukraine's financing needs, and the EU expects the remaining one third to be provided by other countries supporting Ukraine, which could include Canada, Japan, Britain, Norway and others.
Dombrovskis said 45 billion of the total EU loan would be disbursed in 2026 and the other 45 billion in 2027, of which 28 billion was to be for military needs and 17 billion for general budget purposes.
The EU still needs to get its international partners to commit to the remaining one third of the financing that is needed on top of the EU loan for 2027, Dombrovskis said.
The total 90 billion euro EU loan will be disbursed in tranches over the two years and the disbursements will be linked to continued reforms by Ukraine as the country adjusts its laws to match the EU's on its way to become an EU member eventually.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)
