Ukraine has money until May
Kyiv’s funding needs have eased after the International Monetary Fund approved an $8.1 billion loan late last month, disbursing $1.5 billion straight away. The country should have enough money to stay solvent until early May, four people familiar with Kyiv’s finances told POLITICO.
Previous EU estimates had indicated Kyiv would go broke at the end of March, putting it at a major disadvantage against Russian forces and amid ongoing U.S.-led peace talks, and therefore increasing the urgency of the €90 billion EU lifeline.
The loan seemed locked in until late January, when a Russian drone attack damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil across Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. Budapest and Bratislava are exempt from EU sanctions on Russian oil.
Orbán accused Ukraine of intentionally delaying repairs to the pipeline for political reasons, and reneged on the commitment he made at the December summit to wave the Ukraine loan through. The Hungarian leader also blocked the EU’s 20th sanctions package against Russia, which requires unanimous support from all 27 leaders to pass.
Orbán, who faces a crucial national election on April 12, has been campaigning on an anti-Ukraine platform. His political party, Fidesz, is behind the opposition Tisza in the polls by a wide margin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has denied the accusation that Kyiv is refusing to fix the pipeline for political reasons, last week told reporters that while he did not want to do so, he could get oil flowing through the Druzhba “in a month or a month and a half” — which would be just after the Hungarian election.