The Minister of Finance held a series of meetings with officials from key partner countries and financial institutions in the framework of the URC 2024

On June 11-12, on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024), a delegation of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine headed by Minister of Finance Sergii Marchenko held a series of bilateral meetings with officials from the United States, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. 

In particular, with the Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert Jan Koopman,U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker, Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Scott Nathan, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez, Director of the IMF European Department Alfred Kammer, World Bank's Managing Director for Operations Anna Bjerde and IFC’s Vice President for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean Alfonso Garcia Mora.

The meetings were also attended by First Deputy Minister of Finance Denys Uliutin, Deputy Minister of Finance Olga Zykova and Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa. 

The key issue on the agenda was how to meet Ukraine's needs on the way to sustainable economic growth and recovery. 

The Minister of Finance thanked the partners for their comprehensive assistance which has been contributing to the preservation of macro-financial stability and the recovery process for the third year in a row:

"The need for external financing for 2024 is about USD 38 billion, of which USD 11.8 billion has already been raised in the first months of the year. We have assurances from donors that Ukraine will receive financial support in full. Together with our international partners, we continue to discuss all effective ways to finance additional budgetary needs in a predictable and rhythmic manner."

In 2024, Ukraine expects to attract about EUR 10 billion more from the EU, subject to the performance of the commitments set out in the Ukraine Plan, USD 7.8 billion in budget support from the United States, USD 4.5 billion from the IMF, USD 2 billion from the Government of Japan, about USD 500 million from the United Kingdom and others.

Sergii Marchenko once again emphasized the priority of meeting budgetary needs. Only if all priority State Budget expenditures are funded Ukraine will be able to protect its economy throughout the war in order to rebuild and become self-sufficient. During the meetings, the parties discussed ways to mobilize the necessary resources for 2025. 

In its turn, the Government is taking measures to meet critical budgetary needs in a timely manner. Thus, in the first five months of 2024, the State Budget revenues from domestic sources increased by 35% compared to the same period in 2023. 

The partners agreed on the urgency of implementing a rapid recovery, especially in the energy and social sectors. 

On the sidelines of the Conference in Berlin, the Ministry of Finance signed a number of agreements with the World Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the KfW. The total amount of the signed agreements is over USD 340 million. The financial support will be used to restore the energy sector, critical and social infrastructure, and the housing sector.   

During the meetings and in their public statements, the international partners noted the activities of the Government of Ukraine in maintaining financial stability and implementing reforms, in particular those defined in the cooperation programs. 

In this context, participants highly commended the implementation of the Reforms Matrix analytical tool and interactive portal by the Government of Ukraine, which provides an overview of the conditionalities and recommendations of Ukraine's international partners presented in official documents. Namely, in the recommendations of the European Commission and the report on Ukraine as part of the EU enlargement package, measures from the IMF Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies of the EFF Arrangement, the Ukraine Plan under the Ukraine Facility, and the conditions of the World Bank (Development Policy Loan, DPL).