KYIV: Ukraine has received $3.9 billion from the United States via the World Bank initiative, said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
This is the first tranche in 2024 under a new financial pact between Ukraine and the World Bank announced a few days earlier.
“These funds will be used to finance priority budget expenditures such as the salaries of teachers, doctors and rescue workers, pensions and social benefits,” Shmyhal said.
The prime minister added this year, Ukraine will get $7.8 billion in direct budget support from the U.S., which will allow Kyiv to pass this financial period.
The pact was signed as part of the peace project in Ukraine, which has been the main tool of the World Bank in providing financial support for Ukraine since the start of the all-out war in 2022.
According to Ukraine’s Finance Ministry, over $25 billion has been raised via Peace in Ukraine, and the new agreement will increase the amount to almost $30 billion, most of which was given by the U.S.
As the Russian war continues to put pressure on Ukraine’s business and economy, the World Bank plays one of the most crucial roles in supporting the country’s financial sector. The World Bank in a report released on May 29 said that 1.8 million more Ukrainians are living in poverty than in 2020.
The report was based on a survey carried out in cooperation with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). It said that 9 million Ukrainians, out of a total population of 32 million, were living in poverty.
