Ukraine's PM says government has completed its obligations for 2026 international financial assistance
Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky announced on 15 October that the Cabinet of Ministers has completed its part of the commitments required for Ukraine to receive international financial assistance in 2026. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, approved several related draft laws during the week, including a tax-code amendment on e-commerce VAT. Requests will now be submitted to the European Commission, followed by mandatory coordination procedures with EU member states and partners outside the EU before funds are disbursed.
Key points
- Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky said on 15 October that the Cabinet of Ministers has completed its part of the obligations required for Ukraine to receive international financial assistance in 2026.
- Koretsky stated that all required resolutions, orders and regulatory documents were adopted by 15 October.
- The next steps are submitting requests to the European Commission, mandatory coordination with EU member states, and similar procedures with partners outside the EU before funds are released.
- On 15 October the Verkhovna Rada approved draft law 16051-1 on VAT taxation of international online purchases through foreign marketplaces, a condition for continued IMF and EU support.
- During the week parliament also approved draft law 16119 on education in the languages of national minorities and indigenous peoples of Ukraine.
- According to reporting, implementation of the e-commerce tax reform is a condition for a third IMF tranche of about $0.7 billion and a second EU macro-financial assistance tranche of €3.7 billion within a €90 billion loan.
- Koretsky said adopted legislation is only part of joint obligations to partners and that further plenary weeks are critical for receiving the full volume of international assistance.
Why it matters
The completion of the government's obligations is a precondition for disbursement of pledged international financial assistance in 2026, including EU macro-financial support and IMF tranches. In September the Prime Minister had warned that delays in adopting required legislation risked losing a significant share of the international funding package. Funding is not yet secured, however: requests still need to be submitted to the European Commission, and mandatory coordination with EU member states (and similar procedures with non-EU partners) must follow. Several of the adopted laws carry direct external significance, including a tax-code reform tied to IMF and EU conditions and a law on minority-language education linked to Hungary's stance on Ukraine's EU accession path.
What happened
On 15 October, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky announced that the Cabinet of Ministers had completed its part of the obligations required for Ukraine to receive international financial assistance in 2026. He said all resolutions, orders and regulatory documents promised by that date had been adopted. The Verkhovna Rada supported several related draft laws during the week, including draft law 16051-1 on VAT taxation of international online purchases through foreign marketplaces, which reporting links to a third IMF tranche of about $0.7 billion and a second EU macro-financial assistance tranche of €3.7 billion within a €90 billion loan, and draft law 16119 on education in the languages of national minorities and indigenous peoples. Koretsky said the next steps are submitting relevant requests to the European Commission, completing mandatory coordination procedures with EU member states, and pursuing similar procedures with partners outside the EU before funds can be received. He stressed that adopted legislation is only part of Ukraine's joint obligations to partners and that further plenary weeks remain critical for receiving the full volume of international assistance.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All supplied sources are Ukrainian and uniformly centre Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky as the speaker, presenting the government's completion of its obligations as a milestone. Coverage foregrounds domestic actors and institutions — the Cabinet of Ministers, the Verkhovna Rada, the Finance Minister, individual MPs and specific draft laws (16051-1 on e-commerce VAT and 16119 on minority-language education) — and stresses both what Ukraine has delivered and what remains to be done in parliament. The framing links the adopted legislation directly to external partners, including the EU's Ukraine Facility and IMF programmes.
Where reporting differs
Ukrainian government figures described state finances in September 2025 as close to critical, citing a reported $27 billion defence budget deficit and warning that Ukraine risked losing a significant portion of $29.5 billion in international financing because of delays in adopting required legislation. On 2 October, however, a European Commission spokesperson said the Commission believes Ukraine has no budget deficit for 2026, based on a meeting with Ukrainian diplomats. The two sides thus paint different pictures of Ukraine's fiscal position ahead of the same funding decisions.
Background
Ukraine's external budget financing needs for 2026/2027 are reported at more than $52 billion, of which roughly $20 billion is already covered by agreements and around $32.6 billion still needs to be raised. On 14 September the Prime Minister described the state of public finances as close to critical and said Ukraine risked losing a significant portion of $29.5 billion in international financing because of delays in adopting required legislation, while the Finance Minister warned that some non-military payments could be delayed if the deficit persisted. On 2 October, a European Commission spokesperson said the Commission considers that Ukraine has no budget deficit for 2026, based on a meeting with Ukrainian diplomats; that same day Ukraine received €2.9 billion from the EU under the Ukraine Facility. Hungary had been awaiting passage of a law on education in the languages of national minorities in order to unblock further progress of Ukraine towards EU membership.