UK Announces Series of New Measures for Ukraine’s Recovery

By: Michael Mike

The United Kingdom has announced series of new measures to support Ukraine’s recovery.

The announcement was made on Wednesday at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in London by the British’s Foreign Secretary.

A statement on Wednesday by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, British High Commission disclosed that the UK package of support includes funding for urgent repairs and early recovery, support for Ukraine’s energy sector, and programmes to bolster wider rebuilding efforts

According to the statement, this further support followed the announcement of a major package by the Prime Minister earlier the same day.

The statement read: “UK has today (Wednesday) announced a wide-ranging package of support for Ukraine’s recovery effort to bolster its resilience in the immediate term and enable the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine as a modern, stable and resilient democracy.

“These measures follow the major package of financial support announced by the Prime Minister to bolster Ukraine’s economic stability as it continues to push back Russian forces.

“The announcements were made at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in London today. The event represents a coalition to rebuild Ukraine, bringing together a broad variety of businesses, governments and civil society to unlock the potential of the private sector to support Ukraine’s immediate and longer-term recovery needs. As part of the conference, the UK is calling on the private sector to boost Ukraine’s recovery, and support both urgent recovery needs and to galvanise action for long-term reconstruction.”

It added that the UK support announced at the conference will help kick-start Ukraine’s road to recovery and help lay the foundations for private sector investment. In the immediate term, this means repairing vital energy, transport and social infrastructure and rebuilding liberated towns and bomb-destroyed cities, to bolster Ukraine’s resilience for the months ahead.

It lamented that: “Putin’s illegal war has caused untold destruction and devastation across Ukraine. The recent destruction of the Kakhovka dam has wide-reaching ecological and humanitarian consequences, which has dramatically worsened the situation.

“As Russia’s illegal war rages on, Ukraine vitally needs support to not just win the peace, but to emerge as a stronger, more prosperous country, resilient to future threats.”

The statement added that: “Following announcements made today, the UK’s non-military assistance to Ukraine now totals more than £4.7 billion.”

Speaking earlier, the UK Prime Minister announced a landmark package of financial support for the country, including $3 billion of additional guarantees to unlock World Bank lending, and £240 million of bilateral assistance. The UK is also working with international partners to provide further new financial backing for Ukraine’s economy, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) looking to raise between €3-5 billion of new capital from shareholders, backed by the UK. This has the potential to quadruple investment capacity in Ukraine.

Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office | British High Commission: “As Ukraine enters a second year defending itself against Putin’s illegal invasion, it is vital the global community continues to shows our strength of support for Ukraine’s recovery.

“Through hosting this event, we are standing in solidarity with Ukraine and committing our support for them to emerge from the war not only victorious, but as a sustainable, modern and resilient democracy.

“The commitments the UK has made today will bolster Ukraine’s current and future recovery needs.”

The further UK support will cover a wide-range of sectors essential to Ukraine’s current resilience and future prosperity.

Vital support to Ukraine’s energy sector will not only keep the lights on in hospitals, schools and homes, it will also help Ukraine’s longer-term energy infrastructure rebuild as a green and sustainable system, including: A £45 million envelope of funding, part of the UK’s wider £62 million programme, to support Ukraine’s energy recovery over the next two years. Of this, £25 million is going to the International Finance Corporation’s Ukraine Economic Resilience Action platform, to bolster Ukraine’s energy security. £3 million will support a new technical assistance facility to speed up Ukraine’s energy sector reform and decarbonisation.

The statement said a memorandum of understanding was signed by UK Minister for Europe Leo Docherty and Ukrainian Minister for Energy German Galushchenko, committing UK support to Ukraine’s energy sector and help to secure a green energy future.

The statement further revealed that the UK, the Government of the Ukraine and members of the G7+ have agreed a Clean Energy Partnership to coordinate international efforts to rebuild Ukraine’s energy system as a more modern, decentralised, and green energy system, fit for full European integration and a Net Zero future.

It was also agreed that efforts to reconstruct and rebuild towns and infrastructure after Russian bombardments will receive UK support to help ensure the most urgent repairs are delivered, with: A £26.3 million equivalent loan backed by UK Export Finance, allowing the Ukrainian government to start rebuilding six vital bridges damaged as a direct result of the illegal Russian invasion, reopening supply routes near the capital, Kyiv; £12 million to the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine to enable the Government of Ukraine and its communities to remain resilient in the face of Russia’s aggression, including support to identify and respond to immediate recovery priorities in newly liberated territories in the east, south and in Ukraine’s border areas.

The statement said UK support will facilitate and enhance private sector investment in Ukraine, before the end of the conflict, including with: $25 million from the UK’s development finance institution, the British International Investment (BII), to support the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Global Trade Finance Program to help keep cross-border trade lines open. This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement on Wednesday that the UK is committing £250 million of new capital to BII.

It was also revealed that Ukraine’s e-governance and fiscal capacity will be strengthened, including through improved transparency, accountability and anti-corruption measures. This includes: A further £15 million for a new anti-corruption e-governance project, being delivered with UK support, to build transparency and accountability into key public services in Ukraine; £2 million to the Government of Ukraine’s digital system for reconstruction management, the Digital Restoration Ecosystem for Accountable Management (DREAM) platform which will increase the transparency of reconstruction projects.

The statement recalled that HMRC recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to provide a further three years of peer-to-peer capacity building support to Ukraine’s State Tax Service.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference continues in London today with a focus on the role private sector and businesses can play in supporting Ukraine’s recovery.

UK Announces Series of New Measures for Ukraine’s Recovery