The World Bank was and remains a trusted partner of Ukraine, and despite all challenges which our country is facing, we have a lot of common projects that are already being shaped and implemented. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman during a meeting with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

The visit of the President of the World Bank Group marked the 25th membership anniversary of Ukraine in the organization, and also became an acknowledgment of the reforms progress that are taking place, including with the advisory and financial support of the World Bank.

The Head of Government stressed an economic situation was stabilized, and today the issues at stake are restoration of capacities and maintenance of stable economic growth.

"Our priorities for the next year are the introduction of changes in the education system and in the judicial system. I am convinced that an Anti-corruption court will be created. An essential question is the implementation of medical reform, and here we would be very grateful for the possibility of establishing a program for implementation of the reform jointly with the World Bank," the Prime Minister stated.

Volodymyr Groysman underlined that the next things on the agenda are further changes in the pension system, large-scale privatization, the transformation of Ukraine from the importer of energy resources to an exporter and the formation of a powerful agricultural sector. The Prime Minister stressed that next year the Government forecasts a GDP growth at the level 3%. And this performance figure can increase in case of a consistent implementation of the planned reform actions and improvement of investment climate.

In turn, Jim Yong Kim emphasized that the World Bank was and remains committed to Ukraine's supporting policy. "There are now tremendous opportunities for transformations and reforms in Ukraine," said World Bank Group President.

He added that the World Bank specialists are ready to accompany an official Kyiv with the formation of a land reform model, the construction of a new system of health and education, the completion of the formation of the Anti-corruption court and of the entire vertical of anti-corruption authorities.

"These are the steps that are of critical importance for the economy and the future of Ukraine. We note the desire of your Government to implement the far-reaching reforms. We are inspired by what has already been done. And we are ready to give our best practices and experience to continue these processes," noted WB Group President.

The Prime Minister thanked for the great appreciation of the Government’s endeavors and added that Ukraine is not going to stop. "Looking at our potential, we have multiple opportunities to ensure the economic upturn," he emphasized.

Following the outcomes of the meeting, a Memorandum of understanding on the support of the privatization (sale) of the state bank Ukrgasbank between the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, PJSC "Ukrgasbank" and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was signed. This document will be a crucial step in the Government's policy on denationalization of state-owned banks and leverage investments in the banking sector of Ukraine. The Prime Minister of Ukraine and World Bank Group President took part in the signing ceremony.

Background

The World Bank is one of the largest institutional investors in Ukraine. At present, 7 investment projects with a total value of more than 2 billion dollars are being implemented in synergy with the World Bank. At the same time, the WB is one of the key reform advisers. Among the international financial institutions, the World Bank is the second, after the IMF, the creditor of Ukraine. Over a period of 25 years, the World Bank has allocated funds for investment projects which were aimed at institutional developing of state authorities and supporting for projects in promising areas and spheres in Ukraine to the tune of USD 11.065.billion.