KYIV, April 21 – Ukraine may get more than EUR 1 billion from the European Union to help the country overcome economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, former President Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday.

Poroshenko, who leads his European Solidarity party in Parliament, cited undisclosed “friends in Brussels” as the source of his announcement.

“Good news from my friends in Brussels,” Poroshenko said. “The European Commission is about to announce a decision to provide macro-financial assistance of EUR 3 billion to 10 partner countries to tackle the effects of the coronavirus epidemic,” he said, adding that Ukraine can get more that EUR 1 billion.

The number of coronavirus cases in Ukraine rose by 415 to 6,125 on Tuesday, according to the Healthcare Ministry. The death toll rose by 10 to 161.

All financial resources provided by the European Union are usually conditioned to Ukraine securing lending from the International Monetary Fund. Ukraine has been seeking up to $9.5 billion in loans from the IMF, the money that is likely to also include funds dedicated to solving the coronavirus crisis.

Poroshenko urged Parliament to approve legislation that is required for the IMF to resume lending to Ukraine despite rising opposition from some lawmakers to the banking bill.

A group of lawmakers submitted more than 16,000 amendments to the bill in an apparent bid to delay the legislation and perhaps derail cooperation between Ukraine and the IMF.

The bill, which was approved in the first reading on March 30, seeks to prevent former owners of banks that were nationalized or liquidated in recent years from regaining ownership rights or receiving monetary compensation.

Analysts said the bill’s main purpose was to prevent one of Ukraine's most-powerful tycoons, billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskiy, the former co-owner of PrivatBank, from regaining ownership rights to the bank.

Parliament’s banking committee over the past week reviewed about 2,500 amendments, indicating that any potential approval of the bill is weeks away. (tl/ez)