On 11 February, representatives of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development and the Ministry of Finance met with a delegation from the European Commission. During the meeting, the parties reviewed progress in the implementation of public investment reform, the status of the Ukraine Investment Framework introduction and further steps under the mechanism for 2025.

"Last year, we signed 12 agreements worth EUR 1.4 billion to launch the Ukraine Investment Framework. Now, together with the European Commission, we are evaluating the results of the implementation of projects under these agreements and coordinating the next programmes and reconstruction initiatives from IFIs for this year under the UIF. Cooperation with partners and clear coordination of actions are essential for the rapid implementation of critical initiatives, so we are focusing our efforts on improving UIF financing procedures, attracting new IFIs and accelerating decision-making processes by all parties," said First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksiy Sobolev.

The participants of the meeting also discussed the details of the next call for proposals for the Ukrainian banking sector under the UIF, which is scheduled to be announced by the European Commission in March. It will focus on support programmes for SMEs, veterans, IDPs and enterprises from the frontline areas.

Additionally, as part of the public investment reform, the participants discussed the work of the Strategic Investment Council, progress in the implementation of projects from the Unified Portfolio of Public Investments Projects and the involvement of IFIs in the work of the interagency project preparation unit (PPU). A separate topic: the European Commission's support for the implementation of project preparation mechanisms - Ukraine FIRST and Ukraine PPF. The latter will facilitate the high-quality preparation of public initiatives to bring them to a state of financial solvency.

The parties also touched upon preparations for the URC2025 and the EU-Ukraine Business Summit, which aims to attract investment from European companies in recovery projects. The Summit is scheduled to take place in April this year in Brussels.

Representatives of the European Commission emphasised the interest of the EU private sector in financing and implementing projects in Ukraine and positively assessed the Government's progress in implementing relevant reforms.

Background information

The Ukraine Investment Framework is the second component of the Ukraine Facility plan (Pillar 2) worth EUR 9.3 billion, including EUR 7.8 billion in guarantees and EUR 1.5 billion in grant funding.

During the URC2024, 12 grant and guarantee agreements worth EUR 1.4 billion were concluded as part of the first stage of the programme, of which EUR 1.05 billion were guarantees to expand existing IFI programmes, EUR 289 million were for blended finance and grants, and EUR 55.5 million were for technical assistance in finalising investment projects and applying for funding.