00:00The European Commission is laying the technical and legal groundwork to make the first payment to Ukraine under the 90
00:07billion euros loan as soon as Hungary lifts its veto, hoping to shield the country's water-battered budget from painful
00:14cuts.
00:15The executive unveiled on Wednesday the first of four documents that underpin the assistance program, with the other three expected
00:22in the coming days.
00:23So once we have all the relevant elements in place, we can draw on the funds that we have in
00:32our liquidity pool and make the first disbursement.
00:34So this is really not going to hold up the procedure.
00:37The allocation for 2026 will be 45 billion euros.
00:40The remaining 45 billion euros will be allocated for 2027, even if disbursements could continue beyond the cut-off date.
00:49But for the time being, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is blocking the financial lifeline over an unrelated dispute with
00:57Ukraine regarding the Druzhba pipeline.
00:59Kiev says the infrastructure is badly damaged and needs to be repaired after a Russian drone attack,
01:06while Budapest says it is deliberately shut down to influence the outcome of the elections on April 12th.
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