The leading democratic economic powers and the international community intend to give Ukraine further financial aid in the coming year. “Together with the international community and in close cooperation with the Ukrainian government, we will remain committed to supporting Ukraine in the coming months and years,” G7 finance ministers said on Wednesday after meeting on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting and the World Bank in Washington. According to IMF boss Kristalina Georgiewa, Ukraine needs an estimated three to four billion US dollars per month in the coming year.
The G7 finance ministers said that Ukraine’s most urgent financial needs for the current year are covered by international support. In addition to military and humanitarian support, budget support of 20.7 billion US dollars (21.3 billion euros) has already flowed, a total of 33.3 billion dollars have been committed for this year. The country faces a significant funding gap in 2023 to secure basic services and fix deficiencies in critical infrastructure, it said.
For basic government benefits
By far the largest donor is the USA. According to the Ministry of Finance, Germany is the largest donor within the EU with a share of 1.4 billion euros. The funds are intended to help maintain basic government services in the war-torn country, such as paying pensions and the salaries of government employees. “Now it’s a matter of putting this into a long-term perspective, that is, of putting the financing of the Ukrainian state on a secure basis for next year,” said Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) on the sidelines of the annual conference in the US Capital city.
The Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy was connected via video at a round table of the IMF and the World Bank on aid to Ukraine. He called for a regular forum to provide financial support to the country. “It would be good to create a permanent working group that would provide financial support to Ukraine and work in a timely manner at different levels,” Zeleneskyi said, according to the translation. The format should be based on the so-called Ukraine contact group, which is primarily used to coordinate arms deliveries for the Ukrainian armed forces.
IMF boss Kristalina Georgiewa promised such a forum. “Yes, we do,” she said. One wants to set up such a format as soon as possible. According to the head of the IMF, personal talks are planned with representatives of Ukraine about the budget for 2023. Zelenskyi also called for targeted loans of two billion US dollars, for example to rebuild the electrical energy infrastructure after it was destroyed. A credit line of no less than five billion US dollars is also needed to ensure the energy supply for the winter.
