Ukraine, World Bank sign $4.5B grant agreement

Ukraine and the World Bank have signed a $4.5 billion grant agreement, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry's press service has said.

"Today, August 9, Minister of Finance Sergii Marchenko and World Bank Regional Country Director for Eastern Europe (Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine) Arup Banerji signed the USD 4.5 billion grant agreement," the report reads.

The grant funds were provided by the United States and directed to the World Bank's Multi-Donor Trust Fund as part of the Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine (PEACE) Project.

"I am grateful to the Government of the United States of America and the World Bank team. Thanks to their efforts, the Ukrainian Government keeps ensuring systematic spending for wages, social and pension payments during the fight against the aggressor. Grant financing is extremely important and allows us to reduce the debt burden on the State Budget of Ukraine and to think about the post-war reconstruction," Marchenko said during the signing of the agreement.

The grant will be used to provide pension payments and spending on certain programs of state social assistance, such as housing and utility services, support for low-income families, children with disabilities and those disabled from childhood, IDPs, and medical services under the medical guarantees program, etc.

As of July 26, 2022, international financial assistance to Ukraine reached almost $13 billion.