Minister of Finance outlines key areas for further operation of the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform during the Steering Committee meeting in Berlin

On June 10, the Tenth Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine was held in Berlin, Germany. 

The event was attended by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal (online), Co-Chair of the Platform from Ukraine, Minister of Finance Sergii Marchenko, Director-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert-Jan Koopman from the European Commission and U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker from the United States, as well as representatives of the G7 countries, the European Commission, and IFIs.

Sergii Marchenko expressed gratitude to colleagues for their cooperation within the Platform, as well as the German side for hosting a meeting in Berlin within the framework of the Ukraine Recovery Conference. 

The Platform is a primary fora for coordinating efforts to attract international support for Ukraine's budget and reconstruction needs.

The Minister of Finance outlined the priority issues for the further operation of the Platform, in particular:

• financing Ukraine's budget needs in 2024 and 2025;

• rapid recovery, in particular of the energy sector;

• directing international support to strengthen economic development;

• prioritization of reforms to strengthen the competitiveness of Ukraine's economy and integration into the EU.

"In 2024, the need for external financing reaches USD 38 billion. Due to joint efforts with our partners, including within the Platform, we have received assurances that we will raise the necessary amount of funds. It is crucial that the support comes in a rhythmic and predictable manner, which will contribute to the stability of the State Budget performance. 

The Ministry of Finance is also taking measures to strengthen its internal financial capacity. In the first five months of 2024, customs and tax revenues of the State Budget increased by 35% compared to the same period in 2023. The liquidity support measures included transfer of the military PIT from the local budgets to the state budget and the introduction of windfall tax on banks’ profits, in addition to increased borrowings on the domestic debt market,” the Minister of Finance of Ukraine said. 

Currently, the priority task is to raise funds to finance the budget needs in 2025. The Ministry of Finance is negotiating with its partners to receive concrete assurances. Next year, international support will be just as critical. 

According to Sergii Marchenko, russia's full-scale terror against Ukraine's energy system is increasing pressure on economic growth and, as a result, on increasing State Budget revenues. russia has destroyed generating capacity that covered about half of Ukraine's demand. The urgent issue is to protect Ukraine's skies and rapidly restore critical infrastructure.

The participants of the Platform assured of their continued support to Ukraine in repairing and stabilizing the energy system and protecting energy infrastructure. 

The parties agreed that further cooperation should prioritize strengthening Ukraine's economic growth, which will allow for greater financial self-sufficiency. This will be facilitated by more active involvement of the private sector and implementation of structural reforms. Specifically, the areas of focus are public finance and public investment management, the rule of law, public administration and management of state assets, social infrastructure, and the labor market.

Recently, the Government of Ukraine launched an interactive website Reforms Matrix to monitor the implementation of the conditionalities and recommendations identified in cooperation with international partners. The Reforms Matrix also contains an expert assessment of the impact of reforms on economic growth and recovery.

Summarizing, the parties reaffirmed their intention to continue to cooperate closely to attract international commitments for Ukraine's urgent needs.

Permanent members of the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform are Ukraine, Italy, France, Germany, the European Commission on behalf of the European Union, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Temporary members are the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.