Ukraine's Parliament Passes Key Bills to Unlock IMF and EU Funding

Ukraine's parliament just took a real step toward unlocking billions of dollars in aid it desperately needs to keep the country running during the war. On September 16, the Verkhovna Rada passed two bills in their first reading — think of that as a rough draft approval, not the final law yet.

The bigger one ends a tax break on international parcels under €150 (about $170) that Ukrainians order from sites like AliExpress or Amazon. Lawmakers backed the bill, with 273 votes, to introduce a 20% value-added tax on cross-border e-commerce parcels valued at under €150, aiming to generate around Hr.10 billion ($224 million) annually for a dedicated state budget fund to support Ukraine's armed forces, while leveling the playing field between domestic and foreign retailers. If you've ever ordered something cheap from overseas to dodge sales tax, that loophole is basically what's closing here — for everyone in Ukraine.

The second bill approved with 270 votes, institutes simplified, lower-cost insolvency procedures for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, limiting proceedings to a maximum of 180 days, without extensions, and safeguarding employee wages, while bringing Ukraine's bankruptcy law in line with EU standards. It's basically making it faster and less painful for small businesses to close down or restructure if the war wrecks their finances — a boring-sounding fix that matters a lot to actual workers who'd otherwise wait years to get paid what they're owed.

Why does any of this matter to you, even if you're nowhere near Ukraine? These bills are tied directly to money Ukraine needs from the IMF and EU to pay salaries, pensions, and basic services while it's still at war. The insolvency bill fulfills one of several indicators under the Ukraine Facility plan needed to secure €1.3 billion in EU funding, and the parcel tax is one of the last hurdles for a separate IMF tranche and EU aid package worth billions more. Western taxpayers — including Americans, through IMF contributions — are effectively the backstop keeping Ukraine's government solvent, so whether Kyiv follows through on these reforms affects how much aid keeps flowing.

What the story leaves out is that this wasn't easy or drama-free. The parcel tax bill had already been voted down twice before — once in May, once in early September — because plenty of Ukrainian lawmakers and businesses hate it, worried it'll slow down shipments, encourage smuggling, and squeeze people relying on parcels for basics like power banks and lights heading into winter. It finally passed on the third try. And these are still just first-reading votes — the bills need a second reading to actually become law, so this is progress, not a done deal.

Zoom out further and you see the bigger picture: Ukraine is juggling a budget deficit north of $32 billion and is counting on roughly $30 billion from international partners this year, contingent on parliament actually delivering the reforms it's promised. This week's votes are a good sign, but they're two pieces of a much longer to-do list.