Ukraine gets $230 mln from Japan as part of World Bank agriculture recovery support project

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian budget has gotten a $230-million loan from the Japanese government as part of the World Bank's Ukraine Agriculture Recovery Inclusive Support Emergency (ARISE) Project, Ukrainian media said on Friday, citing the Ukrainian Finance Ministry.

"Raising funds within the ARISE framework is an important contribution to the provision of access to financing for agricultural business in Ukraine," the press release quoted Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko as saying.

The loan comes from the Advancing Needed Credit Enhancement for Ukraine (ADVANCE Ukraine) Trust Fund, it said.

The ministry noted that the ARISE project aims to support agricultural producers' access to financing through preferential lending (compensation for expenses under the "5-7-9" program) and improve small farms' access to financing through grants.

The project funding currently stands at $550 million, of which $500 million will be used to finance the state program "Affordable loans 5-7-9%" in 2023-2024 with a focus on agricultural enterprises, and almost $50 million is provided for grants for small agricultural producers.

As reported, Ukraine received the first tranche of 4.5 billion euros under the EU's Ukraine Facility and $1.5 billion from Canada on March 20, whereas before that external funding amounted to only $1.2 billion since the beginning of the year.

On Friday night, the IMF Board of Directors approved the allocation of the fourth EFF tranche to Ukraine in the amount of $880 million, which should arrive within two to three days.

According to the National Bank forecasts, the external funding of Ukraine might total $10 billion or more between mid-March and the end of April, while the annual needs of the state budget are estimated at $37.3 billion.