Ministry of Economy considered the progress of preparation of the new Partnership Strategy of Ukraine and the World Bank for 2022-2026

The First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko met with the World Bank Regional Director Arup Banerji. The event was also attended by First Deputy Minister Denys Kudin and Deputy Minister - Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka, representatives of the Ministry of Economy.

During the talks, the progress of preparation of the new Partnership Strategy of Ukraine and the World Bank for 2022-2026 as well as other key cooperation issues.

"The most attractive industries for investment in Ukraine are mechanical engineering, energy, information technology, agriculture, construction," said First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko. "Hence, I believe these priorities will be reflected in the Partnership Strategy with Ukraine for 2022-2026."

Consultations on the preparation of the Strategy will last until February 2022, and the first draft is expected to be presented in March next year.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side noted that they count on the World Bank's advisory and expert support on reforming state-owned enterprises, leveraging investment in public-private partnerships, ensuring macro-financial stability, implementing land reform, supporting energy transition, rehabilitating critical and social infrastructure etc.

The participants of the meeting on December 17 noted the Board of Directors of the World Bank might decide to allocate EUR 300 million to Ukraine in the framework of the second tranche of the project Second Economic Recovery Development Policy Loan.

The parties also focused on the issue of increasing the competitiveness of Ukraine's exports. Currently, the Ministry of Economy is working on legislative and regulatory support for the effective operation of the Export Credit Agency (ESA).

"The Ministry of Economy highly appreciates the efforts of the World Bank to increase the efficiency of the Export Credit Agency. We support the implementation of the World Bank's loan project Ukraine Access to Long-Term Finance. In addition, the Bank's technical assistance will help increase the competitiveness of the private sector, improve the overall business climate and the system of institutional support for Ukrainian exporters," said Deputy Minister Taras Kachka.

In particular, the Bank's advisory services include diagnostics of Ukraine's trade competitiveness, research and analysis of technology implementation and digital transformation, analysis of "green" (environmental) competitiveness, a set of tools to support exports and technical assistance.