Oleksandr Kubrakov: Regions and communities received funding for recovery projects

Thanks to the joint efforts of the state and partners, the Government has managed to attract UAH 22 billion to finance local and regional recovery projects. This was announced by Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, during a telephone conference with the heads of regional state administrations.

The Minister informed local authorities about the sources of funding available for recovery projects. These include the Fund for Elimination of Consequences of Armed Aggression (Fund for Elimination of Consequences) and three programmes supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB). Applications for funding, as well as monitoring and auditing of the implementation of approved projects, will be carried out through the state electronic reconstruction management system, DREAM. Teams of experts from UNDP and the Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development will be involved in monitoring the quality of reconstruction projects, their compliance with accessibility requirements, energy efficiency and the availability of shelters.

“Recovery starts with communities, because it is at the local level that people should have access to basic services that ensure their livelihoods. Leadership in reconstruction is a responsibility, which is why our team pays great attention to transparency and accountability of the reconstruction process at central, regional and local levels. All reconstruction projects to be implemented with money from the Fund for Elimination of Consequences and EIB lending programmes will be registered in the DREAM system, which will ensure proper reporting on project implementation. This is important for the state, donors, partners and citizens,” said Oleksandr Kubrakov.

Under the first tranche of the Fund for Elimination of Consequences, communities and regions will receive UAH 6.6 billion to implement 157 recovery projects. Of these, 44% are projects for major repairs of residential buildings, and the rest are social and critical infrastructure facilities, schools, kindergartens, and water and sewage projects. In the near future, the Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development is expected to receive UAH 3.6 billion from the Fund to implement 44 projects to restore residential buildings, critical infrastructure and social facilities. The Agency implements national flagship projects and projects for communities that lack the capacity and resources to implement critical recovery projects.

The next meeting of the Interagency Working Group on the allocation of funds from the Fund for Elimination of Consequences is scheduled for Friday, 7 July. The meeting is expected to approve projects to restore housing and critical infrastructure. First of all, for the overhaul of multi-storey buildings and the preparation of infrastructure for the 2023-24 heating season. The interagency working group considers only those projects that are registered in the DREAM ecosystem.

In addition, almost UAH 4.5 billion of the EIB loan balances will be transferred as a subvention from the state budget for the design, construction and rehabilitation of public facilities, social infrastructure, cultural heritage, housing and utilities, as well as other facilities that have an impact on the livelihoods of the population. Projects proposed by the regional military administrations (RMAs) are approved by the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, and funding for approved projects will be allocated directly to the regional budgets. The RMAs can submit their proposals for project funding at the expense of the subvention until 19 July 2023.

In addition, 71 projects worth UAH 3 billion are planned to be financed under the EIB’s Ukraine Early Recovery Programme in 2023-2024.

The Government has also approved the allocation of UAH 5.3 billion in subventions from the state budget to local budgets in 2023 under the Ukraine Recovery Programme to finance 109 community projects that have been competitively selected under the procedure agreed with the EIB. Additionally, proposals for the allocation of UAH 4.1 billion are being considered. These projects are monitored by UNDP experts. All projects under these programmes are also registered in the DREAM ecosystem, where the construction process is to be accounted for.