Norway provides MIGA with $22 mln to insure investments in Ukraine

MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Norway has provided $22 million to the Support for Ukrainian Reconstruction and Economic Enhancement (SURE) Trust Fund to mitigate risks for foreign investors and meet the demand for military risk insurance, Ukrainian media reported, citing the press service for the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which founded SURE.

"Norway's support to SURE will enable MIGA to better respond to the large demand for [military] insurance in the active [crisis] phase and reduce the risks for foreign investors to take part in recovery and reconstruction efforts in the longer term," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide was quoted as saying in the statement.

"Norway's contribution represents a substantial and welcome addition to the SURE Trust Fund for Ukraine. It will allow us to expand the assistance we are already providing to the country," MIGA Executive Vice President Hiroshi Matano said.

The trust fund leverages donor financing to use de-risking mechanisms such as a first-loss layer, which absorbs a portion of the risk, MIGA said.

The SURE Trust Fund was established by MIGA in February 2023 to help deploy a two-pronged strategy to assist Ukraine deal with the impact of the crisis.

MIGA was established in 1988 as a member of the World Bank to facilitate foreign direct investment in developing economies, helping to mitigate the risks of currency conversion and transfer restrictions, breach of contracts by the governments, expropriation, etc. The agency is also involved in improving lending to private investors and lenders themselves.