Ukraine will receive first funds from Japan backed by frozen russian assets in early 2026: Ministry of Finance and JICA teams held a meeting in Washington

During a working visit to Washington, D.C., the leadership of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) met to coordinate further cooperation.

The meeting was held between Deputy Minister of Finance Olga Zykova, Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa, and JICA Senior Vice Presidents Shohei Hara and Yuko Mitsui.

JICA provides support to Ukraine in various areas, including technical cooperation and official development assistance loans, with a primary focus on maintaining economic stability and supporting recovery.

In 2022, Japan provided Ukraine with USD 581 million in concessional financing through JICA.

The parties discussed the continuation of budget support.

In 2025, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko and Head of the JICA Office in Ukraine Hideki Matsunaga signed a Loan Agreement. The document provides for a loan to Ukraine in the amount of JPY 471.9 billion (over USD 3 billion). The loan servicing and repayment will be financed from future revenues generated by immobilized russian assets.

The funds are part of the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) mechanism launched by the G7 countries, with a total volume of about USD 50 billion. They will be directed to finance priority expenditures of Ukraine’s State Budget to support the country’s economy and development.

“I am grateful to the Government of Japan for our fruitful cooperation. Since 2022, Japan has provided Ukraine with USD 8.7 billion in budget support, including USD 955 million in grants. External financing remains essential to maintaining stability in the country in 2026 and beyond,” noted Olga Zykova.

Since 2023, Japan has been providing Ukraine with grant assistance under the Emergency Recovery Program totaling over JPY 100.1 billion (about USD 698 million), implemented by JICA. This assistance aims to support Ukraine’s recovery by restoring critical infrastructure, strengthening energy and social resilience, and improving living conditions.

As part of these projects, Ukraine has already received modern specialized machinery and equipment for the energy, transport, agriculture, healthcare, education, waste management, water supply, and humanitarian demining sectors.

The parties discussed aligning Japan’s available recovery resources with Ukraine’s most urgent projects, as well as priority areas of cooperation for the coming months. The Ministry of Finance team emphasized that reconstruction and recovery require significant resources. Japan’s experience in recovery project implementation and management is extremely valuable and will help make Ukraine’s reconstruction process more effective.

JICA representatives reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining and expanding support for Ukraine.