Ukraine needs $411 billion for recovery and reconstruction

Ukraine’s reconstruction and reconstruction needs have risen to $411 billion, just over a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the World Bank said Wednesday.

The estimate, made jointly by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations, is higher than the $349 billion released in estimates in September.

The latest estimate predicts that Kyiv will need $14 billion in critical and priority investments in reconstruction and recovery in 2023.

According to the estimate, funding of $11 billion will be needed to meet these needs, which is more than what the government of Ukraine has already indicated in its 2023 budget.

Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine displaced millions of people, and global food and energy prices skyrocketed as a result of the war.

“Energy infrastructure, housing, critical infrastructure, economy and humanitarian demining are our five priorities for this year,” said Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.

He added that part of the reconstruction work has already been completed.

But Shmyhal warned that “the amount of damage and the need for reconstruction currently do not include data on the loss of infrastructure, housing and business in the occupied territories.”

When the defense forces release them, the authorities will start reconstruction work in these areas, he said.

But the required $411 billion is 2.6 times the country’s estimated gross domestic product for 2022.

The highest expected needs are transport, followed by housing and energy.

The reconstruction of Ukraine “will take several years”, said Anna Bjerde, Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia.

She added that public investment support also needs to be “supplemented by significant private investment to increase available financing for reconstruction.”

The report released Wednesday said the estimates “should be considered a minimum as needs will increase as long as the war continues.”

But the damage did not increase as much as it might have, in part because the worst of the conflict was confined to areas that had already suffered significant damage.

Some of the country’s needs are also met by the government of Ukraine with the support of its partners.

The Allies rushed to send aid to the country from the beginning of the conflict.

The war has driven 7.1 million people into poverty, undoing 15 years of development progress and increasing inequality, the assessment said.

Direct damage to buildings and infrastructure is more than US$135 billion, it added.