EU okays 1-bn euro aid to Ukraine

(LUXEMBOURG) - The European Union on Monday formally approved a one-billion-euro assistance package to help Ukraine's interim authorities overcome the country's deep financial problems.

And in a further move to revive the Ukrainian economy, EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg also signed off on a plan to lower customs duties on Ukrainian goods that could save the country almost 500 million euros a year.

The ministers also added four people to a list of 18 Ukrainians subject to an EU visa ban and asset freeze since March 5 for misappropriating Ukrainian state funds.

There were no immediate details on the four but EU diplomats said they were Ukrainians who, along with the other 18, were targeted by judicial investigations for fraud against the state.

The EU medium-term loan of almost one billion euros ($1.4 billion) is aimed at helping Ukraine cover its balance-of-payments needs and comes in addition to 610 million euros of aid that has been approved but not yet disbursed.

The cut in trade tariffs for Ukrainian imports until November 1 is a one-sided measure that will not affect duties on exports to Ukraine from the 28-nation bloc.

It is a first stage in a free-trade pact due to be signed by Brussels with Kiev later this year which was linked to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement that former president Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign in November, triggering the protests that led to his ouster.