Slovenian guarantee for a loan to Ukraine is expected to amount to 700 million euros

Brussels – According to current calculations, Slovenia will have to provide around 700 million euros in guarantees for the new EU loan to Ukraine, which would be financed using frozen Russian assets, Slovenian minister Klemen Boštjančič said on his arrival at the meeting of the union’s finance ministers.

As Boštjančič said, discussions are still ongoing in the EU about how much of the 210 billion euros, which is the total amount available to finance the loan to Ukraine, the EU member states will provide in guarantees. Percentages of 50 or 75 are being mentioned, he said.

“For Slovenia, it currently appears that the guarantee would amount to around 700 million euros,” he explained. He emphasized that this is a guarantee that would only come into play in “certain quite extreme cases.”

He also warned against further delays in seeking solutions for the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, since such solutions will cost the union even more later than they would today.

He added that Europe is the one with the greatest interest in ending the war in Ukraine as soon as possible, not only for security reasons, but also because of other, primarily economic issues. “If anywhere, Europe is stronger than Russia precisely in financial terms. There is absolutely no doubt about that,” the minister stressed.

On Thursday, finance ministers discussed the proposal for a new 90-billion-euro loan from the European Union to Ukraine, which would be financed using Russian assets frozen under sanctions against Moscow for its aggression against Ukraine. Under the proposal presented last week by the European Commission, guarantees for the loan would be provided by the member states and, according to assurances from Brussels, would be used only if financial institutions in the EU that hold Russian assets had to return them to Russia. (12 December)