Sergii Marchenko Met with the Finance Ministers of the Netherlands and Japan

Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko held several meetings with finance ministers of partner countries. In particular, with First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands Sigrid Kaag, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Netherlands Christiaan Rebergen and Minister of Finance of Japan Shun'ichi Suzuki.

Deputy Minister of Finance Olga Zykova, Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa and Deputy Minister of Finance for European Integration Yuriy Draganchuk also took part in the meetings.

During the meeting with the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands, Sergii Marchenko thanked the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the budgetary support this year.

“Sincerely grateful to the Government of the Netherlands for supporting Ukraine and providing USD 110 million in credit guarantees. These funds helped to ensure the priority social expenditures of the State Budget of Ukraine during martial law. Now we can provide only the most necessary expenses, but it should be taken into account that we provide the financing of military needs at the expense of our own revenues”, Sergii Marchenko said.

At the same time, the Minister of Finance of Ukraine emphasized that the need for additional financing of the State Budget remains. The deficit in the next year will reach USD 3.5 billion per month, therefore there is a need for a rhythmic flow of funds to the State Budget of Ukraine during 2023 to eliminate this gap.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands provided loan guarantees to Ukraine in the amount of USD 89 million as part of the World Bank program. The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved more than USD 489 million in development policy loans entitled Financing of Recovery from Economic Emergency in Ukraine - FREE Ukraine between Ukraine and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).  USD 21 million was recieved as part of the Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine (PEACE) Project of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

The meeting with the Minister of Finance of Japan Shun'ichi Suzuki was productive. Sergii Marchenko told his colleague about the financial situation in Ukraine, the needs of the State Budget for 2023 and the restoration of the damaged critical infrastructure of Ukraine, and also thanked him for providing concessional financing to overcome the economic consequences of the war.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of russia, Japan has granted Ukraine a loan on concessional terms in the amount of USD 581 million. The funds were directed to the State Budget of Ukraine to finance priority social and humanitarian expenses.

The Minister of Finance of Ukraine noted that according to a joint assessment of the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank and the European Commission, Ukraine needs USD 17 billion for rapid recovery. Ukraine counts on the support of foreign partners in this issue.