The Ministries of Finance of Ukraine and the Republic of Slovenia have signed a memorandum of cooperation aimed at deepening cooperation in the debt sector.
This memorandum was signed in Kyiv during a meeting between Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič, Ukrinform reports, citing the Uriadovyi Portal.
“A memorandum of cooperation was signed. The goal is to deepen cooperation in the field of public debt management and state-guaranteed debt,” the report said.
It is noted that the Slovenian Ministry of Finance will provide expert support in the area of risk management related to public debt and state-guaranteed debt.
In addition, the parties discussed a number of topical issues, in particular the continuation of Ukraine’s European integration process. Marchenko said that Ukraine counts on further cooperation with Slovenia within the framework of its integration course towards the EU.
The head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance expressed gratitude for the consistent support since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
It is noted that as an EU member state, Slovenia actively supports decisions that are critical to Ukraine’s financial stability.
In particular, Slovenia supported the introduction of the EU’s Ukraine Facility for 2024-2027 with a total volume of EUR 50 billion, of which EUR 19.6 billion has already been allocated for budgetary needs.
“The European Union has launched a macro-financial assistance program under the ERA Loans mechanism for a total amount of EUR 18.1 billion, of which EUR 8 billion has already been transferred to the State Budget of Ukraine,” the government said.
Slovenia has also contributed approximately EUR 1.5 million to humanitarian demining and approximately EUR 1.8 million to the EBRD–Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth multi-donor account to support economic reform, improve the business climate and restore sustainable growth.
In addition, Marchenko expressed gratitude for the EU’s consistent policy of increasing sanctions pressure on Russia.
The Ministry of Finance believes that it is particularly important to lower the price cap on Russian oil within the 18th package of sanctions.
The parties also discussed further cooperation between the countries. Boštjančič confirmed Slovenia’s readiness to continue providing comprehensive support to Ukraine, including in the process of European integration.
The government said that Slovenia has valuable expertise in the field of adapting legislation to EU standards, which it is already sharing with Ukraine.
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In particular, the Slovenian Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF) is actively cooperating with the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, providing professional support in the reform process, the institution said.
As reported by Ukrinform, Ukraine and Slovenia have signed a memorandum of cooperation in the social sphere.
Photo: Ministry of Finance of Ukraine