Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Spain for the fourth time in March since the Russian invasion. With the war in Iran in the foreground, Zelensky conveyed a message of unity and resistance against Putin, after passing through France and the United Kingdom. But his arrival in our country had again a clear objective: the economic aid that Ukraine needs to resist Russia.
In Spain, the Ukrainian leader has always found the support of the Government and a firm diplomatic, military and humanitarian commitment. Regarding the aid that Pedro Sánchez’s Executive has given to Ukraine in recent years, the Secretary of State for Commerce gave a figure, shortly before the visit of the Ukrainian leader, in the Defense Commission of the Congress of Deputies. Amparo López Senovilla contributed a global amount of 17,000 million euros.
A contribution that has materialized in donations to the Army, purchases of weapons, humanitarian aid and, most of it, through European Union programs and NATO.
Petition to Transparency
However, as LA RAZÓN has verified, the financing that Spain provides is non-refundable, unlike the rest of the countries that have helped Ukraine. through loans that must be repaid. This is clear from a document on the Transparency portal after an inquiry to find out the details of the support given to the kyiv Government. Specifically, information was requested about “the current debt that Ukraine has with Spain, as well as its concessions, renegotiations, condonations and interests, as well as the restructuring of that debt from 2022 to the present, along with the corresponding reports and administrative files of those concessions, renegotiations, forgiveness and restructuring – with their concession details, reductions and extensions of payment terms–, including Ukraine’s requests in that regard, along with the meetings that have taken place with the Spanish authorities to this effect since the indicated date.
“Relief actions”
On May 19, the request was transferred to the General Secretariat of the Treasury. Once analyzed, the Transparency Information Unit of the Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Business considered “appropriate to admit the request for access to information”. His response was the following: «Ukraine does not currently have bilateral debt towards the Kingdom of Spain. In July 2022, the Ukrainian Creditors Group was created to coordinate sovereign debt relief actions for the benefit of the Eastern European republic. «Spain participates in this group only as an observer, precisely because it is among the countries that do not have a creditor position against Ukraine,” concluded the general director of International Financing, signatory of the text, in her explanations. The Creditors Group is coordinated through the Public Treasury to manage the relief of external debt in the international framework.
According to the details provided by Senovilla in the Lower House, of the total amount committed – the aforementioned 17,000 million euros – 641 million constitute direct exposure, mainly in the form of guaranteeswhile 16,223 million are from indirect commitments that are made through the European Union and international bodies. Likewise, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Aecid) has allocated a total of 72 million euros in non-refundable aid between February 2022 and December of last year, of which 59 were directed to humanitarian aid and 13 to reconstruction.
Furthermore, last July, Spain reinforced its commitment to the reconstruction of Ukraine within the framework of the visit to kyiv of the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Body, during which agreements were signed to mobilize 570 million euros in financial instruments that facilitate the participation of Spanish companies in the country’s priority projects.
Last December, the leaders of the European Union (EU) agreed to finance Ukraine with 90 billion euros in 2026 and 2027 through the issuance of debt under the community budget, leaving aside for now the initial plan to rely on Russian assets immobilized by sanctions. The 90 billion euros from Brussels will cover almost two-thirds of the 136 billion that Ukraine will need in military and financial support between 2026 and 2027, according to calculations by the International Monetary Fund. The rest should be provided by other international partners. Pedro Sánchez then defended “moral reasons, justice and international legality” to justify it.