Representatives of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine together with the European Commission delegation discussed the progress and next steps in attracting investments under the Ukraine Investment Framework (UIF), the second investment component of the Ukraine Facility (Pillar 2).

The second phase of the UIF was launched in October this year. It covers public and private sector projects and private equity investments.

“The first stage of the selection of proposals from IFIs and DFIs covering the energy sector, transport, housing rehabilitation and reconstruction, etc. is now coming to an end. In early November, together with the European Commission, we plan to review all submitted concepts for compliance with the Government’s priorities in order to select the most important ones with the maximum social and economic effect,” Oleksii Sobolev, First Deputy Minister of Economy, said.

According to the UIF Phase II implementation plan, the European Commission will select applications from international financial institutions (IFIs) and bilateral development agencies (DFIs) for 12 months. The first stage of project evaluation will be completed by 31 October 2024. The second stage will take place in early 2025.

At the meeting, the participants further discussed progress in implementing public investment reform and noted the need to involve international financial institutions in projects from the Single Project Pipeline (SPP), which already has 770 concepts in critical sectors of the economy.

According to Oleksii Sobolev, preparatory work is underway with the European Commission to launch the next stage of project selection within the UIF through the banking sector. It will cover the needs of SMEs, veterans, IDPs, and target socially vulnerable groups. An important aspect will also be to extend the funding programmes to the affected regions of the country and avoid providing double guarantees for projects.

Background information

The Ukraine Investment Framework is the second component of the Ukraine Facility programme (Pillar 2) worth EUR 9.3 billion, including EUR 7.8 billion in guarantees and EUR 1.5 billion in grant funding. Through comprehensive risk-sharing instruments, blended finance and grants, the UIF is expected to help attract up to EUR 40 billion to the Ukrainian economy.