The European Commission and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private investment arm of the World Bank, had signed a guarantee agreement worth up to 90 million euros ($97 million) to support private sector investments in Ukraine's reconstruction efforts, the EU Commission's press service reported on Feb. 5.
This is part of the IFC's Better Futures Program that aims to mobilize over 500 million euros ($537 million) across sectors, including infrastructure, goods production, decarbonization, and job preservation.
Additional investments for Ukrainian businesses are crucial for maintaining Ukraine's economy and reconstruction. According to the World Bank's estimate, Kyiv will need over $400 billion for full recovery in the coming years.
According to the Kyiv School of Economics, the total amount of damage caused by Russia's war to the infrastructure of Ukraine reached $151.2 billion as of September 2023.
Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said that "this EFSD+ guarantee will help rebuild the country's infrastructure, support its business sector, and strengthen the resilience of its economy."
"With the EFSD+ guarantee, we are moving fast to implement innovative and impactful projects and back private sector companies, fulfilling our commitment to mobilize private capital to support Ukraine's economy and reconstruction," IFC Vice President for Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean Alfonso Garcia Mora said.
EFSD+ (the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus) is an EU investment framework that provides financial guarantees and technical assistance to support public and private investment for sustainable development in partner countries worldwide.
In December 2022, the IFC launched the $2 billion Economic Resilience Action (ERA) package for Ukrainian businesses.
The IFC gathered almost $1 billion to rebuild Ukraine's private sector in January 2024.
So far, the IFC has provided financing of over $650 million and mobilized over $400 million to support the tech sector, agriculture, critical exports and imports, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) finance.
Earlier, the Kyiv Independent spoke with IFC Regional Director of Central and Eastern Europe Rana Karadsheh about the challenges of attracting investments to Ukraine at the moment and the work needed to ensure Ukraine can attract the funds for rebuilding.
Dominic Culverwell
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