Olga Zykova: Through the World Bank's URTF, Ukraine has received over $1.2 billion in grant support, covering millions of Ukrainians
On Wednesday April 23, a Meeting of the Partnership Council of the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF), organized by Ukraine and the World Bank, was held in the framework of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.
The meeting was opened by World Bank Vice President for the Europe and Central Asia Region Antonella Bassani. The event was co-chaired by Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine Olga Zykova, World Bank Regional Country Director for Eastern Europe Bob Saum, and URTF Program Manager James Newman.
The meeting was attended by the Fund's donors, including representatives from the United States, Japan, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, Austria, Belgium, the Republic of Korea, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
“Today, the URTF trust fund established by the World Bank remains a critically important instrument for Ukraine, allowing the Government to swiftly mobilize donor and development partner financing to overcome the consequences of the war. Despite the fact that russian aggression against Ukraine has continued into its fourth year and keeps causing severe damage, with the help of the World Bank and its partners, the Government of Ukraine has been able to continue delivering essential services, provide healthcare, support vulnerable groups, ensure access to education in frontline areas, restore homes and electricity infrastructure damaged by russian shelling, and support farmers,” Olga Zykova emphasized.
The Deputy Minister also noted that the Bank’s assistance was especially valuable in helping Ukraine through the heating seasons of 2022–2025, when the country’s energy infrastructure was under constant attack. The allocated funds enabled Ukraine to build protective structures for energy facilities and procure critical transformers and essential equipment to restore electricity and heating supplies.
To date, projects supported by the URTF have reached 20 million Ukrainians.
As of the end of 2024, the World Bank, through the URTF, mobilized around USD 2 billion in donor funding to support Ukraine, of which USD 1.2 billion has already been disbursed as grants. This grant financing also helped unlock an additional USD 6.2 billion for Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and reform efforts.
URTF has played a crucial role in supporting public investment management reform through early-stage technical assistance. This reform is vital for Ukraine’s reconstruction, long-term development, and EU accession, as it enables the Government to prioritize investment projects that meet quality and environmental standards while ensuring effective mobilization of both public and private resources.
In addition, URTF’s 2025–2026 plan includes projects aimed at implementing reforms in education, finance, transport, healthcare, business support (especially SMEs), and fiscal management through the Program-for-Results (PforR) financing instrument.
“We are grateful to our partners for their continued support and remain committed to transparency and accountability in implementing initiatives funded through international cooperation. In 2025, Ukraine still faces significant challenges and uncertainty. According to the Fourth Ukraine Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4), USD 17.3 billion is required for priority recovery efforts this year. USD 7.4 billion is currently secured through the State Budget and donor support. Almost USD 10 billion more remains to be mobilized,” said Zykova.
She added that the priority areas for financing rapid recovery over the coming year are housing, energy, social and critical infrastructure (including transport, heating, and water supply), and social protection.
At the same time, the Deputy Minister emphasized that as long as the full-scale war continues, all domestic resources are directed toward the security and defense sector. Therefore, international support and private sector investment remain vital to securing the necessary funding for Ukraine’s recovery needs.