PM Shmyhal: EU to send 335 million euros in aid for reconstruction and reforms.

Ukraine will receive 335 million euros in aid from the European Commission, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on Oct.

31. Shmyhal added that after the "recovery and reforms" support program will be signed by both parties, the funds will be allocated to "the reconstruction of infrastructure, in particular the energy sector, to business assistance." Funds will also be allocated to reforms that fight corruption, support environmental protection, and digitalization.

Internal reforms are a crucial step on Ukraine's path toward European integration and in June, the European Commission presented seven steps they recommended Kyiv should carry out in order to launch the accession process. Shmyhal said on Sept.

26 that Ukraine had implemented all seven recommendations, included reforms to the Constitutional Court, the media, anti-corruption organs, and the country's legal framework for national minorities. The European Commission is therefore expected to issue a positive evaluation of Ukraine's accession bid on Nov.

8, although additional conditions may be raised, Reuters reported on Oct.

24, citing three official sources.

IMF launches fund for supporting Ukraine's reforms The international organization made the announcement during a week-long IMF-World Bank conference in Marrakech. According to Pyshnyi, donors have already allocated £14 million to the IMF's Ukraine Capacity Development Fund, with the goal being to raise £65 million.

News Editor

Elsa Court is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent.

She was previously an intern at the Kyiv Post and has a Master's in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University.

Before joining the Kyiv Independent, she worked at the Netherlands Red Cross programme to arrange hosts for Ukrainian refugees and as a freelance writer and editor.

Elsa is originally from the UK and is based in the Netherlands.