The European Commission has prepared three financial support mechanisms for Ukraine,

 writes Politico. The European Commission wants to attract up to €18B in loans and grants to cover half of Ukraine’s expected budget deficit of $38-40B in 2023. The first option, which the Commission describes as the most advantageous, is to borrow the money against the so-called headroom, or the difference between the maximum amount the bloc can call in from EU countries and actual EU spending. The second option is a repeat of the method used thus far, whereby countries provide budgetary guarantees to the Commission. But this time, national guarantees would need to cover 100% of the amount, instead of the 61% previously guaranteed, as “there is no other budgetary cover” left in the EU budget, the document says. In addition, EU countries would also need to provide counter-guarantees in case of default from their peers if losses occur. The third option is similar to the second but without national guarantees.