Ukraine receives $1.34 bln under World Bank's PEACE project

MOSCOW. Dec 25 (Interfax) - Ukraine has received $1.34 billion as the Sixth Additional Financing under the World Bank's Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine (PEACE in Ukraine) project, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to the Finance Ministry's statement on Monday.

The principal part of the funding is a $1.086 billion loan from the World Bank provided through the Advancing Needed Credit Enhancement for Ukraine (ADVANCE Ukraine) Trust Fund under the Japanese government's guarantee.

The Sixth Additional Financing of PEACE in Ukraine also includes a grant component in the amount of $190 million from Norway through the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Reform Trust Fund (URTF), $50 million from the United States government, and $20 million from the Swiss government.

"The funds will be used to partially compensate for non-security and defense-related expenditures of the Ukrainian State Budget, including old-age social payments and payments to employees of the State Emergency Service (SES)," the ministry said.

Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko said on December 19 that Ukraine managed to attract over $39 billion in financing from abroad in 2023, and this amount should reach about $42.3 billion by the end of the year, compared to $32.1 billion Ukraine received in 2022.

In particular, Ukraine received 150 million euros as a grant from the European Union on December 20, as well as 1.5 billion euros as the last tranche of the EU's macro-financial assistance for 2023, $52.4 million as a grant from Japan under the Housing Repair for People's Empowerment Project (HOPE), and a $900 million loan from Japan under the WB's Investing in Social Protection for Inclusion, Resilience, and Efficiency (INSPIRE) on December 21.