Olga Zykova spoke about Ukraine's implementation of obligations under cooperation with international partners: Business Forum «Rapid Recovery of Ukraine»
On May 21, the Luxembourg - Ukraine Chamber of Commerce hosted the Second Luxembourg-Ukraine Business Forum «Rapid Recovery of Ukraine». Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine Olga Zykova participated in the keynote panel “Ukraine’s EU accession - outlook and opportunities” and the panel “Financing of Economy Recovery”.
The Forum brings together representatives from Ukrainian and Luxembourgish authorities, European institutions, the Luxembourgish industrial and financial sectors, international financial institutions, and investors to explore innovative strategies and initiatives aimed at accelerating Ukraine's economic recovery and fostering sustainable growth.
Olga Zykova spoke about the measures taken by the Ministry of Finance amidst the challenges of war and on Ukraine's path to EU accession:
“The huge challenges our country is facing require not only resilience but also strong and effective actions of the Government. Cooperation with donor countries and international financial institutions is crucial in this context. Since February 2022, more than USD 85.4 billion of direct budget support has been attracted through fruitful cooperation with international partners. This allowed the Government to ensure the priority social and humanitarian expenditures of the State Budget, while using all domestic resources for the security and defense of the country.”
In the first months of 2024, when there was no external assistance from key donors, Ukraine successfully passed this period thanks to the measures taken, while keeping the financial system stable.
Implementation of the reforms identified in cooperation with donors remains one of the Government's top priorities, since it contributes not only to resource mobilization but also continues to demonstrate Ukraine as a reliable strategic partner.
As of the beginning of 2024, Ukraine has implemented a number of reforms under the EU's large-scale Macro-Financial Assistance program for 2023 and the Ukraine Plan under the Ukraine Facility, a policy for the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law. Also, 21 structural benchmarks under the IMF Arrangement and the required 8 conditions under the World Bank's Growth Foundations Development Policy Loan (DPL) program were met. In particular, the Budget Code was improved, tax and customs policy, and public debt management were strengthened.
In addition, by implementing reforms under cooperation programs with international partners, Ukraine is paving the way for the necessary external financing. Thus, in 2024, Ukraine has already attracted about USD 11.8 billion from the EU, the IMF, Japan, Canada, the UK and Norway.
The Deputy Minister of Finance also said that enhanced coordination with international financial institutions enables effective prioritization of projects and resources for their implementation.
Regarding Ukraine's European integration track, Olga Zykova noted that transparency and accountability are top priorities on the agenda. It is not only about implementing mechanisms for monitoring the use of donor support, but also about ensuring reliable and transparent activities of the main financial administration institutions. A significant part of the work in this important and complex area has already been done through the adoption of relevant amendments to the legislation
“In particular, we are working on the implementation of the Public Investment Management Reform. The reform aims to ensure strategic planning of investments, their fiscal sustainability and prioritization, unified approaches to project selection regardless of funding sources and the creation of a single project portfolio, as well as strong implementation capacity in the public sector.”