Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform ramps up efforts to help Ukraine address priority recovery needs in 2023

Today on April 5, the Government of Ukraine, the G7 Members of the Steering Committee and representatives from international financial institutions discussed, during the second meeting of the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform’s Steering Committee for Ukraine, how to best coordinate economic support for Ukraine’s immediate financing needs and future economic recovery and reconstruction efforts.

The Government of Ukraine presented its budgetary needs for 2023 which it estimates at USD 39.9 billion. Following the approval of the IMF four-year programme to support Ukraine, with an overall budget of USD 15.6 billion, and taking into account the EU’s support to Ukraine’s budget through its Macro-Financial Assistance Plus package of €18 billion, with €4.5 billion disbursed so far in 2023, as well as contributions from other donors, the Government of Ukraine confirmed that it has closed its budgetary deficit for 2023.

The meeting, co-chaired by Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman, together with Finance Minister of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Mike Pyle, took place after the release of the updated Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment. The Assessment provides the latest estimates of damage arising from Russia’s war of aggression and outlines the expected amounts needed for recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine, in line with its EU membership perspective.

On the basis of the report, the Government of Ukraine presented its priority needs for early recovery in 2023 for energy infrastructure, humanitarian demining, critical and social infrastructure, housing and support to the private sector. These priority recovery needs amount to USD 14.1 billion and will require USD 10.8 billion in financing, beyond USD 3.3 billion that is already made available by the Government of Ukraine for this purpose in its 2023 budget.

The Commission welcomed the commitment of the Ukrainian government towards budgetary stability and to defining and prioritising strategic rapid recovery needs for 2023. As part of the EU’s overall support to Ukraine, €1 billion, announced by President von der Leyen and Commissioner Várhelyi during the College-to-Government meeting and the EU-Ukraine Summit meetings in February, will contribute to addressing the rapid recovery needs. Discussions on the concrete sectors the support will focus on will continue in the coming weeks. The Commission also reiterated the EU’s support to Ukraine, for as long as it takes, including on its European path.

Today’s meeting of the Steering Committee confirmed the Platform’s important role as a catalyst for mobilising the international commitments required to respond to Ukraine’s needs in 2023 and beyond and fostering closer coordination to help meet the needs on the ground.

Going forward, the Steering Committee will meet regularly, with the next virtual meeting planned in May and another meeting envisaged in the margins of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

The Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine was launched on the 26^th of January 2023, with its inaugural Steering Committee meeting. It brings together high-level officials from Ukraine, the EU, G7 countries, as well as partners from international financial institutions, notably the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The Platform’s Secretariat is in a Brussels office hosted by the Commission,