Today, on 12 October, during the visit to the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko met with the KfW’s CEO Stefan Wintels, member of the Executive Board Christiane Laibach and member of the Management Committee Christian Krämer.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister of Finance Olga Zykova and Deputy Minister of Finance for European Integration Yuriy Draganchuk.

The parties discussed the current economic situation in Ukraine and the implementation of joint projects with KfW aimed at financing the development of small and medium-sized businesses, supporting the energy sector, implementing energy efficiency measures and restoring social and critical infrastructure.

The Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko thanked the management of KfW for its significant contribution to the restoration of the energy sector and infrastructure affected by the armed aggression of the russian federation and noted the effective cooperation with the Bank within the existing project portfolio.

“Due to the support of our international partners, in particular the German Government and KfW, our country continues to maintain stability and, despite the serious challenges to the country’s financial system caused by russia’s full-scale war, to finance priority budget expenditures in a timely manner and in full,” said Sergii Marchenko.

Currently, the KfW portfolio under the six existing investment projects is the largest for the entire period of cooperation and amounts to EUR 273 million, and the rate of loan disbursement in 2023 is the highest in recent years.

In 2022-2023, KfW provided significant support to the energy sector of Ukraine, which contributed to the smooth passage of the heating season in the context of the russian energy terror.

The Government of Ukraine and KfW also actively cooperate in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises through the Business Development Fund (BDF).

The Minister of Finance noted the contribution of KfW to the deepening of cooperation between Germany and Ukraine by signing a joint declaration. On August 14, 2023, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko and Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany Christian Lindner signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to strengthen cooperation between the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the Ministry of Finance of Germany.

The Joint Declaration envisages that the German side will provide advisory support to the Ukrainian side, in particular in the areas of customs policy, monitoring of financial markets, public investment management, and privatization of state-owned enterprises. Exchange of expertise will allow access to the best European practices and significantly improve the training of Ukrainian specialists, including to expedite our integration into the European Union.

As a result of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue deepen dialogue to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and KfW, as well as to strengthen control and monitoring of the implementation of measures for the preparation and implementation of joint projects to achieve the planned results.