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to details published by the World Bank in March. Just demining the country could cost up to $1.5bn, according to the World Bank. Ukraine is now the most mine-contaminated country on earth.
Compared to June 2022, the largest proportionate increase in damages was in energy, where as of February it was more than five times higher, after Russia repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure with missile attacks. The geographic areas with the greatest increase in needs are frontline regions of the war: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Kherson.
According to a report by the Kyiv School of Economics, as of January the war had destroyed or damaged more than 149,300 residential buildings, including 131,400 private houses
and 17,500 apartment buildings, as well as more than 3,000 educational institutions ranging from preschools to universities. Hundreds of hospitals, religious buildings, cultural facilities and other buildings were also damaged or destroyed.
The Ukrainian government and its partners have already started some of the work. The most urgent work, that won’t wait for the end of the war, is to build accommodation for displaced citizens. Next on the list is to repair the energy infrastructure.
For example, in the health sector over 500 affected healthcare facilities have been partially or fully repaired; the energy and transport sectors have received equipment, materials and financing to make rapid repairs. Kyiv made it through the first winter of war with the lights still on and water flowing from the taps, as reported
by bne IntelliNews’ correspondent on the ground. Many Polish companies,
for example, are already working in Ukraine, where the demand to rebuild infrastructure is ongoing, according to the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH), the newspaper Puls Biznesu reported on April 5.
Lithuania, another staunch supporter of Ukraine, has made the reconstruction
of educational and training institutions and communications infrastructure, and the provision of temporary housing for refugees, its priorities in the short term, according to a plan approved
by the government in August 2022. Among the projects announced at the time were construction of a mobile residential camp and renovation of a school in Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, rebuilding the bridge over the Trubiz river and rebuilding a kindergarten in the town of Irpin, in Kyiv’s suburbs.
Fellow Baltic state Estonia has focused on the Zhytomyr region, where it started rebuilding a kindergarten and
the meantime and 97% believe that Ukraine will win the war, according to a survey by the International Republican Institute (IRI) conducted in March.
For Ukraine to withstand Russian pressure, however, it will need more military support from the West. Currently, European countries are struggling to fulfil their promises to send hundreds of tanks to Ukraine. There are fears that unless the West delivers more offensive weapons, Ukraine's army could be overwhelmed this summer and there is a potential supply crisis looming this summer
as Ukraine is running out of ammo. According to bne IntelliNews’ frontline
“Databases of companies ready to get involved in the reconstruction have already been drawn up in Poland, which is expected to act as a hub for rebuilding efforts, together with Romania”
will continue with other civilian sites and critical infrastructure. “We hope that we can show an example to other countries with our initiative and first projects, because rebuilding Ukraine will be a process that takes a lot of time and resources, and definitely calls for international co-operation,” Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said in December.
A year of war
It was initially thought that the war would take a matter of weeks, but the fierce resistance of the Ukrainian side took Moscow by surprise. Instead of surrendering, the Ukrainians fought tooth and nail, with a highly successful counteroffensive in September, retaking hundreds of kilometres of lost territory, routing the Russian defenders.
Now the fighting has become bogged down in a seven-month battle for Bakhmut. But things may change soon, as both sides are expected to launch a spring counteroffensive.
Ukrainians remain adamant that Kyiv should continue fighting for
reports, the Ukrainian army is already rationing shells as stocks start to run low.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said recently that Ukraine may be forced to start peace talks if it loses control of Bakhmut, in a two-day conversation with AP journalists on March 28-29. He predicted that if Russia defeats Ukraine in Bakhmut, Russian President Vladimir Putin would set out to “sell” a victory to the international community.
On the Russian side, the Kremlin has put Russia’s economy on a war footing and is ramping up military production. However, the Kremlin does not appear to expect a speedy victory; presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned colleagues that they should get ready for a possible “forever war”, according to a recent report by The Guardian.
Looking ahead to reconstruction
But while the outcome of the war and its timing remain completely uncertain, officials and companies in Ukraine’s neighbours to its west are already thinking ahead to the reconstruction period.
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