Sergii Marchenko: Ukraine has received more than $5 billion in direct budget support from Canada since February 2022

Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko met with the Minister of International Development of Canada Ahmed Hussen.

The meeting was joined by Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine Alexander Kava, as well as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ukraine Natalka Cmoc and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Canada Yuliya Kovaliv. 

The Minister of Finance expressed his gratitude to the Government of Canada for their support since the beginning of the full-scale war.  

‘Canada is the third largest G7 member state in terms of funding, with about USD 5.1 billion. We are grateful to the Canadian government for its multilateral and crucial support since the first days of the russian invasion. Canada continues to maintain its strong position on financial, military, humanitarian aid, sanctions against the aggressor country, as well as in the G7 political decision to use russia's frozen sovereign assets for the benefit of Ukraine,’ said Sergii Marchenko. 

In 2022, Ukraine received about USD 1.9 billion. In 2023, Ukraine received over USD 1.75 billion in concessional funds, and this year over USD 1.47 billion was attracted to the State Budget. 

The Canadian delegation also expressed its support for providing Ukraine with USD 50 billion, which will be serviced and repaid from future revenues from frozen russian sovereign assets. The parties agreed that russia should be held fully accountable for the crimes committed and the damage caused to Ukraine. Financing priority needs, including the military, with russian assets is such one mechanism. 

The Minister of Finance stressed the importance of maintaining external support for the next year. At the same time, the Government is working on mechanisms to increase internal budget revenues. 

The parties discussed one of the most effective tools for mobilizing the state's internal resources, the issue of War Bonds. Since February 2022, Ukrainians, including commercial banks, legal entities, and individuals, have purchased bonds totalling about USD 31 billion. The convenience of the mechanisms for purchasing bonds, market yields, and a 100% guarantee of repayment from the state make government bonds the most attractive instrument on the market. 

The Canadian side expressed its readiness to cooperate in the financial area and in the process of implementing reforms.