2023-04-15 15:00:11
The World Bank has announced the granting of aid of 200 million dollars (about 182 million euros) to Ukraine to repair its energy infrastructure.
Funding will come from the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTFfor its acronym in English), and will have an additional 300 million dollars (272.8 million euros) that the partners will contribute with aid and other contributions as the project gets rolling.
Among the systems to be repaired through the Winter and Energy Resources Restoration Project are those of electrical transmission and heating. In this way, equipment such as autotransformers, transmission transformers, relay protection, mobile boilers, etc. will be delivered.
“Energy infrastructures have suffered damage of 11,000 million dollars (10,003 million euros) in the last year, and this is one of the most critical areas where Ukraine needs urgent support,” said World Bank Managing Director of Operations Anna Bjerde.
In fact, the World Bank already granted Ukraine in February through the URTF 50 million dollars (45.5 million euros) to repair transport infrastructure and thus “support the deployment of humanitarian aid and increase the capacity of the export and import routes» of the country.
This was the second emergency package allocated in two months, with the first, approved in December, focused on repairing health centers. Later, the World Bank announced on February 24, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the invasion, that it would mobilize a package of 2,500 million dollars (2,273 million euros) to support Ukraine and keep essential services and government functions active. central.
For its part, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on March 31 a line of financing for Ukraine of 15,600 million dollars (14,186 million euros) as part of a broader package of 115,000 million dollars (104,575 million euros ) created in response to the invasion.
The objective of this program, with a duration of 48 months, is “to maintain financial and economic stability in times of exceptional uncertainty”, as well as to contribute to the sustainability of the Ukrainian debt. This plan received the backing of the G7, the European Union and other donors to ensure the viability of the Ukrainian state in the medium term.
In the first part of the programme, planned for 2023 and 2024, the focus will be on “implementing a robust budget and increasing revenue”, controlling inflation and the foreign exchange rate, and contributing to good long-term financial health through deeper analysis of banking entities and ensuring the independence of the central bank.
As for the second phase, this will focus more on structural reforms for macroeconomic stability, post-war reconstruction and strengthening long-term growth prospects. These objectives should be aligned with the milestones required for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
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