The European Council on Thursday, May 28, approved nearly €2.8 billion ($3.25 billion) to Ukraine under the seventh disbursement of the Ukraine Facility program after Kyiv completed 11 of 20 reform steps required.
The approval came despite persistent reform shortfalls.
According to monitoring data from the RRR4U analytical consortium, Ukraine entered May 2026 with 15 overdue reform indicators from 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, putting up to €4.5 billion ($5.22 billion) in financing at stake.
The tranche was unlocked in part due to a European Commission methodology change allowing reform targets completed ahead of schedule to offset delayed indicators.
The payment was announced on the European Council’s website and by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko in her Telegram post.
Payments under the Ukraine Facility are tied to the Ukraine Plan, Kyiv’s roadmap for recovery, reconstruction, and modernization, structured around reform milestones aligned with the country’s EU accession bid.
Ukraine will now wait for the cash to land in Ukraine’s budget.
“As of the end of May 2026, through our joint efforts, 86 steps of the Ukraine Plan have already been completed, with another 65 in the process of implementation,” Svyrydenko’s update says.
“We are continuing together to implement reforms and move along the path of European integration,” it adds.
The payment also marks the first time Ukraine will receive compensation under a new European Commission methodology for completing future reform targets ahead of schedule.
The Ukraine Facility, which entered into force on March 1, 2024, provides more than €50 billion ($58 billion as of May 2026) in grants and loans to support Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and modernization between 2024 and 2027.
The European Council’s decision followed the European Commission’s April 14 assessment that Ukraine had completed reforms in public financial management, the judiciary, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering measures, financial markets, public asset management, and the business environment.
Ukraine also met reform benchmarks in energy, transport, agriculture, critical raw materials, digital transformation, and the green transition.