The Estonian parliament on Thursday approved the draft of the memorandum of understanding to be signed between the European Commission and Cyprus.
Estonian parlt approves Cyprus memorandum
18th April 2013, 17:03
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The 101-member chamber approved the document with votes 54 - 21.
"The Cyprus bailout program does not entail an additional burden on the Estonian state budget and public debt," chairman of the standing Finance Committee Sven Sester stated at the first reading of the bill on Wednesday.
Sester has earlier said that the economic adjustment program addressing short- and medium-term financial, fiscal and structural challenges facing Cyprus is essential both for bringing the island nation out of the crisis and securing for it the European Union bailout package.
Eurozone finance ministers approved the details of the international bailout program for Cyprus in Dublin at the end of last week, opening the way for several eurozone countries to seek endorsement of the package in national parliaments.
The size of the bailout package is up to 10 billion euros including the contribution of the International Monetary Fund.
The European Stability Mechanism that is providing the bulk of the funds is expected to give the green light to the Cyprus aid package on April 24 at the latest unless some obstacles on the part of EU member states crop up. The first tranche of the loan is planned to flow to Cyprus in mid-May as the EU audit of Cyprus' anti-money laundering laws is expected to have been completed by that time.