U.S. offers additional 1 bln USD in loan guarantees for Ukraine

Visiting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said here Monday that Washington is planning to provide an additional 1 billion U.S. dollars of credit guarantees to Ukraine in the near future.

"I am pleased to announce that the U.S. President and the Congress intend to move forward with the third 1-billion-dollar loan guarantee for Ukraine in the coming months," Pritzker said at a joint media briefing with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after their meeting.

The new credit will be used to facilitate implementation of reforms in Ukraine, which are aimed at improving the country's investment climate and laying grounds for returning to economic growth, Pritzker said.

For his part, Poroshenko appreciated political support and financial help of the United States in dealing with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

"The U.S. assistance in the implementation of reforms in Ukraine is a key for our cooperation," Poroshenko said.

Since May 2014, the United States provided 2 billion dollars in loan guarantees for Ukraine to help the East European economy stay afloat amid its worst financial crisis in decades.

The funding is a part of a broader international financial package of about 40 billion dollars designed to help Ukraine to carry out deep reforms and emerge from crisis over the next four years. Endit