Sergii Marchenko Met With The Management of the World Bank
During the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko met with representatives of the World Bank, in particular with the World Bank Managing Director of Operations Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde, Regional Director of the World Bank for Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova) Arup Banerji, and the World Bank Group Executive Director Koen Davidse.
Deputy Minister of Finance Olga Zykova, Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa, Deputy Minister of Finance for European Integration Yuriy Draganchuk also took part in the meeting and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the USA Oksana Markarova.
During the meeting with the Managing Director of Operations Axel van Trotsenburg, Sergii Marchenko expressed his gratitude to the whole team of the Bank for the long-term productive relationship.
"This year, Ukraine celebrates 30 years of cooperation with the World Bank Group. During the years of cooperation, thanks to the financial support of the World Bank, we implemented many reforms necessary for the development of the country. In addition, the Bank's funds were directed to the modernization and reform of infrastructure, the energy sector, the agricultural sector, the social system, healthcare, and the field of education", the Minister of Finance of Ukraine noted.
From the first days of the full-scale invasion of russia, the World Bank provided unprecedented support to Ukraine. In particular, in March 2022, in an extremely quick manner, WB approved an additional assistance for Ukraine in the amount of more than EUR 500 million. The funds were directed to cover urgent social and humanitarian costs.
The meeting with the World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asian was fruitful. The parties discussed the sources of funding for the 2023 State Budget, the continuation of the project Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE) and the creation of a new mechanism for attracting funds for the country's reconstruction.
Sergii Marchenko thanked Anna Bjerde for the creation of the Trust Fund by the World Bank, through which Ukraine received the majority of funds from donor countries during the full-scale invasion of russia.
To provide support to Ukraine during the war, the World Bank created a new effective financial mechanism: the Trust Fund of many donors, thanks to which it was possible to attract grant funds in the total amount of EUR 1.088 billion and USD 7.5 billion from countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Iceland.
Anna Bjerde noted that the World Bank will continue to support Ukraine in the struggle for democratic values on the European continent. She also noted that the project Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance will be extended to 2023.
At the meeting with the Executive Director of the World Bank, parties discussed mechanisms for attracting funds from international partners.
At the same time, during meetings with representatives of the World Bank, Sergii Marchenko emphasized that today the Bank's support is of particular importance for Ukraine, as the financial system faces a key challenge: ensuring all priority expenditures in conditions of a significant decrease in State Budget revenues due to a full-scale war.
Sergii Marchenko also thanked colleagues for the joint work on the report Rapid damage and needs assessment (RDNA), prepared by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank and the European Commission. This is the first comprehensive report, which is the basis for the further implementation of the recovery plan.
Additional information
During the martial law in Ukraine, the World Bank approved three loans totaling EUR 1.85 billion and USD 91.16 million.
Ukraine is implementing a joint project with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA) Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE) in Ukraine for a total amount of USD 7.3 billion.
September 9, The World Bank, the Government of Ukraine, and the European Commission launched the joint report “Ukraine Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA), prepared in coordination with, and supported by development partners and other stakeholders.
The report provides estimations on Ukraine's losses from the war with russia in the period from February 24 to June 1, 2022, and outlines the country's short-, medium- and long-term needs for reconstruction and recovery.