Ukraine Support Loan

Background

The Ukraine Support Loan is a proposal for a €90 billion limited recourse loan designed to help meet Ukraine’s financing needs for 2026 and 2027. The loan will be implemented under enhanced cooperation, in line with the Council Decision authorising its establishment.

The total envelope is indicatively divided into €30 billion for budgetary assistance and €60 billion for defence procurement support. This reflects a balanced approach addressing both Ukraine’s immediate macroeconomic needs and its urgent security requirements.

Steps towards the upcoming adoption of the Ukraine Support Loan

On 1 April 2026, the Commission adopted two sets of measures advancing the implementation of the €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan package.

a decision validating the use of necessary procurement derogations for the first defence product schedule under the Loan, which will focus on drones;
a proposal for the Council to approve the overall amount of EU’s support to Ukraine for 2026 based on the Ukrainian Financing Strategy for this year. This proposal also defines the split between defence procurements and budget support.

Ukrainian Financing Strategy

The proposal for a Council Implementing Decision sets out the provision €45 billion in EU support to Ukraine by 31 December 2026. This support is additional to contributions from other international donors and takes into account Ukraine’s external financing gap and defence needs.

Within this envelope, up to €16.7 billion is allocated to budgetary support, split equally between the Ukraine Facility and Macro-Financial Assistance. Support for Ukraine’s defence industrial capacities amounts to €28.3 billion.

Use of derogations for drones

The Ukraine Support Loan Regulation provides for a derogation under Article 13(5) only as an exceptional and strictly limited measure. Its application is confined to situations of urgent operational needs, where neither the Ukrainian defence industry nor the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base are able to deliver the required defence products in the necessary quantities and within the required timelines.

As a country at war, Ukraine’s capacity to defend its territory depends on the rapid availability of critical products in the required quantities and within very short timeframes.

In its first product schedule Ukraine requested the application of the derogation to procure drones containing more than 35% of their value (cost/components) originating from outside the Union, the EEA-EFTA States, and Ukraine.

After consultations with the Ukraine Defence Industrial Capacities Expert Group and the Programme Committee, the Commission concluded that the conditions for approving the schedule and granting the derogation request were met.

This will support preparations for the first urgent defence procurements under the instrument and will be followed by additional product schedules on other defence products, including missiles and ammunition, in the coming months.

Next steps

The proposal for 2026 assistance will now be submitted to the Council for approval. Once adopted, the Commission will complete the necessary legal and operational steps to enable EU borrowing on capital markets and to launch disbursements.

Funding decisions will continue to be taken annually, based on Ukraine’s evolving needs and on Commission proposals. All expenditure will remain subject to agreed conditions and monitoring.