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Serhiy Marchenko emphasized that the need for international financing for social and humanitarian expenditures in 2024 amounts to about $43B. Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov presented 2024's priorities for Ukraine's recovery to the assembled partners. Among these priorities are energy, housing reconstruction, critical and social infrastructure, demining, and assistance to the private sector. He added, "In 2024, we want to focus on projects that will contribute to economic growth and job creation." Key elements of the Plan of Ukraine within the framework of the EU Ukraine Facility program were presented by the Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Svyridenko. She said that one of the key tasks is to establish a basis for further negotiations with partners regarding the program's expansion.
The EU has raised money for Ukraine through the issuance of bonds. The European Commission placed bonds on behalf of the EU in the amount of €5B. Part of the funds raised under the Macro-Financial Assistance Plus program will be directed to Ukraine's financial assistance. As reported by the European Commission, the demand for these seven-year bonds at 3.125% exceeded the supply more than nine times. Investors placed applications for €46B. Within this program, the European Commission has already allocated €12B to Ukraine; another €1.5B is planned for the end of September. In total, Ukraine will receive €18B in 2023. This is the ninth bond issued by the European Commission this year. In the second half of 2023, the European Commission will issue bonds for €40B.
Ukraine will receive $232M for emergency housing repairs under the World Bank's HOPE project. On September 5, a corresponding agreement was signed between the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the World Bank within the Housing Repair for People's Empowerment - HOPE project with a total funding amount of $800M. The initial funding of $232M will be directed to solving urgent and critical needs in repairing partially damaged individual and multi-apartment residential buildings in territories controlled by Ukraine. The financing consists of a $162.2M grant from the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (URTF) and a $70M loan from the IBRD under the guarantee of the Japanese government. The HOPE project aims to create appropriate conditions for the return of Ukrainians to the territories affected by hostilities in the liberated regions of Ukraine. As of February 2023, the total cost of damage to the housing sector of Ukraine was estimated at more than $50B.
South Korea will provide Ukraine with financial aid totalling $2.3bn for its recovery efforts, President Yoon Sok Yeol announced at the G20 summit in India on September 10, as reported by the Japanese news agency Yonhap.
The EBRD plans to invest about €1.5B a year in Ukraine over the next two years. According to the Bank President, Odile Renaud-Basso, the amount has not been finally determined, so that it may increase. "It depends on the scenarios, but I would expect at least the same level of funding in the context of war. But if the reconstruction started to accelerate, then the amount would probably increase," Renault-Basso said. However, there is still an urgent need to support Ukraine after the Russian invasion, especially the country's energy sector and infrastructure. "If there is no heating, no electricity, the winter will be tough. Therefore, we will mainly focus on this," she said. Renaud-Basso stressed that the EBRD has a revolving credit line with Naftogaz to help it purchase enough gas as it did last winter and that the bank plans to increase that credit line. In 2022-2023, the bank reserved €3B to support Ukraine's infrastructure and provide credit lines during the war, of which €1.7B was
54 UKRAINE Country Report October 2023 www.intellinews.com