On Wednesday, April 19, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko met with representatives of Germany and France, in particular, with State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, German Federal Government’s Commissioner for the Reconstruction of Ukraine Jochen Flasbarth, Special Envoy of the President of France for Ukraine’s relief and reconstruction Pierre Heilbronn, and other representatives of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Foreign Office.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine Olga Zykova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Ukraine Étienne de Poncins.

The parties discussed the economic situation in Ukraine, state budget and needs for financing rapid recovery.

Sergii Marchenko thanked the representatives of the German Government for the significant support provided since the beginning of the full-scale war. Ukraine received almost USD 1.6 billion in financial assistance from Germany in 2022, which became an important contribution to financing the state budget deficit. He also thanked for the announced support from Germany for the current year in the amount of EUR 111.48 million for the implementation of projects in Ukraine.

The Minister of Finance of Ukraine expressed his gratitude to the Government of France for the provision of EUR 400 million of concessional loan funds for budgetary support in 2022 and the provision of guarantees in the amount of EUR 50 million through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the state-owned enterprise “Ukrzaliznytsia” in 2023, as well as guarantees in the amount of EUR 50 million to the state enterprise “Naftogaz” for the purchase of gas.

“I am grateful to the Governments of friendly countries for their steadfast support of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war. Currently, we are focused on maintaining the appropriate macro-financial level and ensuring priority expenditures of the state budget. One of the most important issues on the agenda is the creation of safe and proper living conditions for Ukrainians, so one of the key priorities is to attract funding for the rapid recovery of Ukraine,” said Sergii Marchenko.

The Minister of Finance of Ukraine emphasized the scale of the losses and damages caused to Ukraine by the war, assessed in the Second Ukraine Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA2) report jointly prepared by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank, the European Commission and the UN. Sergii Marchenko noted 5 key priorities of the rapid recovery in 2023:

• Recovery of energy infrastructure;
• Humanitarian demining;
• Restoration of damaged and destroyed housing;
• Restoration of critical and social infrastructure;
• Support for small and medium-sized businesses.

During the meeting, Sergii Marchenko emphasized the need to ensure close and constructive coordination between international donors and international financial organizations within the framework of the Multi-Agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine, ensuring coordinated, transparent and accountable provision of support for reconstruction.

“The Government of Ukraine is planning a recovery in accordance with the best European and world practices, which is also part of the reforms on the way to EU integration. The Multi-Agency Donor Coordination Platform should play a decisive role in the reconstruction of Ukraine. It was launched to support the recovery and reconstruction process, in close coordination with international donors and international financial organizations,” said Sergii Marchenko.