Ukraine may receive $55 bln-$60 bln in macro-financial assistance in 2023

MOSCOW. Dec 21 (Interfax) - Ukraine may receive $55 billion-$60 billion in macro-financial assistance and rapid recovery, private sector and humanitarian support in 2023, World Bank Alternate Executive Director for Ukraine Roman Kachur said.

"For sure, it sounds almost like a fantasy [...] In my opinion, this is a realistic objective," Ukrainian media quoted Kachur as saying at an annual conference of the Professional Government Association on Tuesday.

Ukraine received around $31 billion in assistance in 2022, he said.

Next year, however, providing funds merely to support the budget, as it was mainly done in 2022, will not be enough, so the World Bank has proposed adding three more key areas to its work with donors and within the government: quick recovery as regards energy and transport infrastructure, private sector support, in particular for the purchase of fuel products for the sowing campaign, and humanitarian assistance, Kachur said.

The World Bank is already working on multiplying mechanisms to turn $1 of donor funds into a total of $3-$4, which will go to Ukraine, he said.

"There are already good signals that a risk insurance mechanism for private businesses will be launched," Kachur said.

The report published by the World Bank estimated Ukraine's recovery needs at $350 billion as of June 1, but the bank's report will be updated in early 2023 and will include much higher figures, he said.

According to the World Bank's estimates, poverty in Ukraine will grow to 25% by the end of 2022, and may increase to 50% in 2023, while the economy will shrink by 35% this year.

The power infrastructure damage assessments released by the World Bank and Ukrainian specialists fully coincided and amounted to 50%, but they did not include the losses resulting from the damage caused in December, Kachur said.