As part of a working visit to Vienna, Austria, the delegation of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine headed by First Deputy Minister of Finance Denys Uliutin and Deputy Minister of Finance Roman Yermolychev are holding a series of meetings with the World Bank team.

During the visit, the representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank discussed further implementation of the Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine (PEACE) project. In particular, talks were held with the World Bank delegation on attraction of the fourth additional financing under the PEACE project in the amount of USD 500 million. These funds will be provided on preferential terms as a guarantee from the UK.

“We highly appreciate our cooperation, as well as the significant financial support we receive, in particular, through the World Bank instruments. It is extremely important in times of war. Your assistance will allow us to further maintain efficiency and sustainability of Ukraine’s public administration system as well as to meet the urgent needs of our country,” First Deputy Minister of Finance Denys Uliutin said.

The World Bank officials presented new initiatives to support the energy and transport sectors of Ukraine aimed at strengthening energy stability and restoring export supply chains.

The issues of social welfare for the people of Ukraine were also discussed. In particular, support for vulnerable groups such as internally displaced persons and war veterans.

“Today, social protection of citizens is one of the important tasks of the state. Currently, the Government of Ukraine is doing its best to ensure that in the conditions of martial law citizens receive their social benefits on time. Support of internally displaced persons and war veterans is one of the priorities. Thanks to the close cooperation with the World Bank team, the needs of these vulnerable categories will be taken into account in the future reform of the welfare system and ensuring further stability of its implementation,” Deputy Minister of Finance Roman Yermolychev said during technical consultations with the World Bank.

During this visit, the issues of the use of new instruments of partners’ support for Ukraine, the fiscal forecast for 2023 and the implementation of measures within the framework of short- and medium-term needs identified in the Rapid Damage Needs Assessment (RDNA) are also set to be discussed.