{
  "id": 10975036,
  "title": "EU wants reforms before more money. Kyiv wants Europe to touch Russia’s frozen billions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/eu-wants-reforms-before-more-money-kyiv-wants-europe-to-touch-russias",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-30T15:11:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euromaidan Press",
    "slug": "euromaidan-press",
    "url": "https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/09/30/eu-wants-reforms-before-more-money-kyiv-wants-europe-to-touch-russias-frozen-billions/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ukraine's Finance Minister, Serhii Marchenko, discussed the country's financial needs and demands for EU support at a meeting in Brussels on September 29th. According to Marchenko, Ukraine will require $52.6 billion in external financing for its 2027 budget, with $20 billion expected to be covered and $32.6 billion remaining uncovered. The remaining funds are primarily used to cover defense spending and other essential services like the army, pensions, and public wages.\n\nRussian attacks have complicated Ukraine's ability to collect taxes, and the country's economy cannot raise its war costs. Ukraine has frozen nearly all spending except for the military, pensions, and public wages in order to conserve resources. The EU has agreed to provide a $90 billion loan to Ukraine, but the support is contingent on Ukraine implementing the necessary reforms.\n\nMarchenko urged the EU to act on $210 billion in immobilized Russian assets, which are currently held at Euroclear in Belgium. The EU and Belgium have also discussed the possibility of transferring these assets to an EU-owned custodian to mitigate risks for Belgium. Four EU states have proposed using the frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with the necessary funding.",
  "summary": "The push comes as Ukraine seeks access to €210 billion in immobilized Russian central-bank assets to help cover its needs.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Kyiv Independent",
        "title": "Is Europe prepared for a drone war with Russia?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/is-europe-prepared-for-a-drone-war-with-russia",
        "published": "2026-09-30T15:14:47.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}