You're reading: European Commission hopes decision to grant new aid to Ukraine will be made by March

Brussels -- The European Commission has said that the decision to offer 1.8 billion euros as additional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine was made after it became clear at the end of last year that Ukraine needs additional support, a commission representative has said. 

He told reporters on Friday that this, of course, was the result of the conflict, which has led to a decrease in confidence.

He noted that the EU was now beginning the process of making the decision regarding the European Commission’s proposal, which would require the approval of the proposal by the European Council and the European Parliament.

The official said that the European Commission expected this to be completed rather quickly, probably within two months.

He also noted that, if approved, assistance would be provided in three tranches, two of which could be allocated in the second half of 2015 and the third in early 2016.

As reported, on January 8, the European Commission proposed providing EUR 1.8 billion as additional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.

It would be the third MFA program for Ukraine since 2010. In the course of 2014 alone, the European Commission disbursed 1.36 billion euros in support of Ukraine under existing programs. The disbursement of the final tranche of 250 million euros under these programs could be expected by the spring of 2015, subject to successful implementation by Ukraine of agreed policy measures and a continued satisfactory track record with the IMF program.