Russian fake: Ukrainians will repay multi-billion dollar loan from frozen Russian assets on their own
Propagandists invented clause in loan agreement from EU to sow despair in Ukrainian society
A central Russian media outlet, propaganda Telegram channels and some Ukrainian bloggers are spreading reports that Ukraine will allegedly have to independently repay a EUR 35 billion loan that the European Commission is going to provide at the expense of future profits generated from immobilized Russian assets in the EU.
This is a fake. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not mention this during her visit to Kyiv on September 20, where she publicly announced the granting of the loan. There is no mention of this in her post on X and a press release on the European Commission's website. None of the foreign or Ukrainian media outlets reported on this clause of the contract.
The Ukrainian Finance Ministry said that Ukraine would not spend its own funds to repay the EUR 35 billion loan from the European Union, which was announced by the European Commission president. The ministry emphasized that the funds would be repaid exclusively at the expense of future profits from frozen Russian assets in the EU.
The Finance Ministry noted that a decision had been made to propose the creation of the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism (ULCM), which will provide an irreversible form of macro-financial assistance. Thus, this macro-financial assistance will not be tied to specific expenses, while at the same time, it will help provide the most urgent needs.
The EUR 35 billion is only a part of the $50 billion loan, which the Group of Seven (G7) nations undertook to transfer to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets.
Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, said in his comment to Ukrinform that it was too early to talk about the allocation of this loan.
"During her visit to Kyiv, EC President Ursula von der Leyen voiced only the European Commission's proposal to allocate 35 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine as part of the agreements between the G7 members. This proposal still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU," he said.
Thus, Russian propaganda invented a clause of the loan agreement, which has not even been officially ratified yet. The loan will be repaid exclusively at the expense of revenues from frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank, which were blocked due to sanctions.
The narrative that Ukraine is allegedly "all in debt" and that even Ukrainian grandchildren will have to pay it off is one of the most common fakes of Russian propaganda. The Russian Federation has repeatedly spread disinformation about loans from the IMF and aid from Ukraine's allies during the war.
Such fakes are aimed at causing the Ukrainian population to mistrust Ukraine's allies and partners in Europe and throw into question the correctness of the country's path to the EU. Russian propagandists are also trying to create a sense of hopelessness in Ukrainian society, that Ukrainians "will live in poverty" for years because they will have to repay credit assistance.
Russian propaganda previously spread the narrative about the ineffectiveness of F-16 fighter jets through fakes.
Andriy Olenin, Oksana Polishchuk