On July 20, Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy, met with the World Bank delegation headed by Antonella Bassani, Vice President for the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. The Ministry of Economy and the World Bank are stepping up their cooperation to mobilise funding from donors and international financial institutions for the rapid recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.

“The Ministry of Economy is working with European partners to develop an economic recovery plan for Ukraine for 2024-2027 under the Ukraine Facility. We are identifying promising projects to be implemented in priority sectors of the economy and holding consultations with business associations in different regions of Ukraine. The plan will be a key strategic document and a roadmap for mobilising funding from donors and international financial institutions. We invite the World Bank to cooperate with us, in particular, we need support in developing the private sector and attracting investment, increasing the capacity of public-private partnerships, implementing the eOselia affordable mortgage programme, humanitarian demining, etc.”, Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

The Ukrainian side thanked the World Bank for launching the Multi-Agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine in January this year as an effective tool for further donor coordination.

Thus, the parties reviewed priority projects for Ukraine’s rapid recovery. In particular, with regard to private sector development, the need for additional financing for projects in this sector is estimated by the World Bank, the Government of Ukraine, the European Commission and the United Nations at more than USD 1.5 billion (RDNA report). This includes support for export-oriented enterprises, grants for SMEs and micro-enterprises, support for the 5-7-9 soft loan programme, the war risk insurance trust fund, etc.

“Without the involvement of the private sector, it will be impossible to meet the needs for rebuilding Ukraine’s infrastructure, and only the business community will be able to ensure the country’s reconstruction in line with best international practices. In this context, we appreciate the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in developing Ukraine’s public-private partnership capacity. The IFC supports Ukraine’s PPP development and plays an important role in strengthening the capacity of Ukraine’s PPP Agency,” Yuliia Svyrydenko noted.

The parties also discussed the possibility of cooperating on the eOselia affordable housing mortgage programme. This includes assistance in IT financing (grants for the purchase of IT infrastructure and technical solutions), technical assistance in the area of legislation, energy efficiency in buildings and thermal modernisation, and concessional loans.

In addition, the Ukrainian side focused on launching a pilot project to develop a procurement procedure through the Prozorro system for procurement with donor funds.