Ukraine is a 'Black Hole' for European Taxpayers’ Money - German Media

In the coming weeks, Kiev will receive the €600 million tranche of the third EU loan package for Ukraine. It will be a new financial burden for ordinary EU taxpayers because there is no hope that the debt will be paid off, a German business newspaper reports.

The €600 million euro tranche of financial aid for Ukraine is taking money from ordinary European taxpayers with no chance to return, the German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten reports.

In the coming weeks, Kiev will receive the €600 million tranche of the third EU loan package for Ukraine. It will be a new burden for European taxpayers because there is no hope that the money will be somehow returned.

Earlier, Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, said the EU completed all the procedures for the new tranche.

"I’m very glad that the Verkhovna Rada [the Ukrainian Parliament] ratified the memorandum on the third package of financial aid of €1.8 billion. I’m sure that within several weeks Kiev will receive the first tranche of €600 million," Hahn said.

"Thus, there is a new financial burden for our taxpayers. There is no hope that the money will return," the newspaper claims.

In May, Ukraine’s National Railroad Company declared bankruptcy. Part of its debt is due to be restructured. In total, its debt has reached $500 million. During the last year only, European taxpayers lost €200 million to save the company, the article reads.

The Ukrainian protective wall along the border with Russia is also funded by EU taxpayers. The electrified barrier with mines and barbed wire is planned to be 2,000-kilometer-long and will cost nearly €100 million, DWN points out.