Ukraine, World Bank planning to implement five joint projects

According to Ukrinform, the press service of the Finance Ministry reported this following a video conference between Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde, which was held as part of the annual and spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In particular, the Finance Ministry is planning to submit the following projects for the consideration of the World Bank’s Board of Directors: “The COVID-19 Emergency Response and Vaccination in Ukraine”, “Improving Higher Education in Ukraine for Results”, “Kyiv Urban Mobility”, “Installing Hybrid Power Generation Systems for Electricity Production at Ukrhydroenerho,” as well as additional funding for the project “Access to Long Term Finance for Ukreximbank”.

"I am very grateful to the World Bank for its efforts to implement many important projects and assistance in the fight against the coronavirus crisis last year," Marchenko said.

To date, the selection of funds within the portfolio of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), compared to other international financial organizations, amounted to $693.55 million as of January 1, 2021, which is 2.3 times more than a year ago.

In addition, Serhiy Marchenko and Anna Bjerde discussed the possibility of increasing Ukraine's support in the fight against COVID-19 and new investment projects for the development of transport infrastructure in Ukraine.

The parties noted Ukraine's progress in land reform and expectations for further work with the IMF as soon as possible.

At the meeting, the parties also noted that the current strategy of partnership between the World Bank and Ukraine for 2017-2021 expires in June 2021. This means that it is time to start systematic country diagnostics to identify key priorities for the next four-year strategy of partnership.

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