South Korea offers $8 billion in low-interest loans to Ukraine
Yuliia Svyrydenko (Photo:Yuliia Svyrydenko / Facebook)
South Korea signed a preliminary agreement on $8 billion in funding for Ukraine on "extremely favourable terms," the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine reported on May 17.
The funding will be allocated for the post-war reconstruction of the country.
The two countries signed the preliminary deal with the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), a special division of the Korea Export-Import Bank (KEXIM).
"Ukraine is included in the list of priority countries for bilateral cooperation with the Republic of Korea under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme," Yuliia Svyrydenko, Economy Minister said.
"The possibility of receiving the first tranche of up to USD 300 million from the EDCF will appear in 2023 within 3-4 months from the signing of the second stage of the agreement, which is expected in a month from to-day's extraordinarily important event.”
The next tranche of $3 billion will be available in 2024, and the total amount may reach up to $8 billion.
The funds will be raised for up to 40 years with a minimal interest rate of 0.15% per annum with 10-year grace repayment period. The Export-Import Bank of Korea will provide the loans within the EDCF."
We hope that in the coming weeks all the formalities will be completed and we will be able to present the first projects to be financed by the Fundto the business communities of our countries," the minister said.
Earlier, the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, met with South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul. As Ukraine’s presidential representative, Zelenska called on Seoul for "more radical" support of Ukraine and thanked the leader for humanitarian aid. Zelenska also asked South Korea provide Kyiv with non-lethal military aid, such as mine detectors and ambulance cars.
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