During her working visit to the United States, Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, met with Antonella Bassani, World Bank Vice President of the Europe and Central Asia Region. The parties discussed further funding for the Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Enterprise (RISE) Program for Results, housing and mortgage instruments, support for Ukraine in long-term economic modelling and the launch of the I_CAN programme for regional development.

“The RISE programme is an example of excellent cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and the World Bank. A disbursement of USD 250 million will be made by the end of this year. Next year we expect to raise additional funds. The RISE programme will support up to 20,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and help create more than 40,000 jobs through government business support programmes,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

The parties also discussed the progress of the housing sector strategy. Last month, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine launched a working group to develop the strategy.

“We are ready to start the actual process of analysis and modelling of the housing sector in close cooperation with the World Bank this month, including the development of an optimal financial model for social housing and the rent-to-own approach. And in the first half of 2025, based on financial modelling, we plan to develop an updated strategy for Ukrfinzhytlo, the company that administers the eOselia mortgage programme,” the First Deputy Prime Minister said.

She also expressed her expectation that the I_CAN project, which is aimed at regional development, will be launched soon. This will help attract investment in communities, restore the affected regions and return people to them.

The parties also discussed how the Government of Ukraine could synchronise World Bank programmes with European integration processes.

In conclusion, Yuliia Svyrydenko thanked the World Bank for systematically attracting funding for the reconstruction of Ukraine through its programmes. The Austrian Government has recently transferred EUR 10 million in grant funding to the World Bank’s Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Reform Trust Fund (URTF). These funds will be used to restore Ukraine’s energy sector and other critical infrastructure, as well as to support the implementation of priority reforms.

Background

The Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Reform Trust Fund (URTF) is a fast and flexible platform that enables the World Bank to prioritise and target financing to the most urgent development needs identified by the Government of Ukraine.

The Fund was established in December 2022 and has since become a platform for mobilising grant assistance from international partners to overcome the consequences of the war. Since then, the Fund has been used to implement several important projects, including reconstruction in the housing sector, the creation of protective structures for energy infrastructure, and affordable financing under the Affordable Loans at 5-7-9 programme in agriculture.