Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko met with World Bank Managing Director of Operations Anna Bjerde and Vice President of the Europe and Central Asia Region Antonella Bassani during their visit to Kyiv.

Deputy Minister of Finance Olga Zykova, Government Commissioner for Public Debt Management Yuriy Butsa and Alternate Executive Director for Ukraine at the World Bank Roman Kachur joined the meeting. The World Bank team included Regional Country Director for Eastern Europe Bob Saum and Regional Director for Europe at the IFC Ines Rocha.

The parties discussed the results of cooperation between Ukraine and the Bank for more than 1000 days of full-scale war, plans for 2025, as well as the joint work of the Government of Ukraine and the WB within the framework of the Reforms Matrix.

Sergii Marchenko thanked Anne Bjerde for her personal contribution to supporting Ukraine and noted the Bank’s key role in consolidating assistance from international partners.

“Despite extreme uncertainty in the context of a full-scale war, the Government of Ukraine is committed to the reform agenda on its way to EU membership. And the World Bank is one of Ukraine’s key partners in achieving this goal. The Reforms Matrix, developed jointly with the Bank, is a roadmap and transformation plan for Ukraine, containing more than 300 reforms with measurable indicators,” the Minister said.

Sergii Marchenko also noted that Ukraine’s performance of its commitments will accelerate economic development, increase the number of innovations and attract the private sector to Ukraine. Such changes are necessary for the country’s speedy recovery from the consequences of russia’s aggression.

Speaking about the state of Ukraine’s financial system, the Minister of Finance noted the key role of the World Bank in supporting the country’s economy and budget. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the World Bank has launched a number of programmes and instruments which have helped to raise more than USD 40 billion for the needs of Ukraine. These funds helped to partially finance social and humanitarian expenditures of the State Budget of Ukraine, as well as its reconstruction.