On 19 May Head of the Mission of Ukraine to the EU Mykola Tochytskyi has been received by Vice-President of the European Commission for Euro & Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis.

Ambassador expressed his gratitude to the Vice-President for his personal support of Ukraine as well as for the assistance of the European Commission in implementing reforms in Ukraine, including through the macro-financial assistance program.

Mykola Tochytskyi informed about active steps taken by the new Government of Ukraine to fully implement the key conditions required for allocating the second tranche within the Third programme of the EU macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.

Valdis Dombrovskis welcomed the commitment of the new Government of Ukraine to achieve concrete results on the current issues of the EU-Ukraine agenda. He also underlined the importance of a positive assessment by the IMF of the results of the IMF expert mission to Ukraine.

According to the Vice-President, if all key requirements are fulfilled Ukraine may count on disbursement of the second tranche of the Macro-Financial Assistance in the amount of €600 mln. in the next few months.

Vice-President expressed hope for a swift approval by the EU of the decision to grant visa-free regime to Ukraine following the recent introduction by the European Commission of a legislative proposal to the Council and the European Parliament. In this context it was underlined that Ukraine has progress in implementing relevant reforms and establishing the institutional framework to combat corruption, particularly in launching of the NABU and other anti-corruption bodies, as well as appointment of the Prosecutor General.

The Parties discussed prospects of the ratification of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU following the Dutch referendum. Special attention was paid to the situation in eastern Ukraine, to the state of implementation of the Minsk agreements as well as to violation of the human rights in Crimea.