Ukraine expects to receive $1.52 billion in aid
The Ukrainian government plans to establish a coordinating council for the program to restore peace in the Donbas. On Saturday, September 3 in an interview with Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli, Vadym Chernysh, the Minister for the Issues of the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine said that the EU, UN and World Bank estimated the amount of financing necessary for the program to be approximately $1.52 billion.
According to Chernysh, “crazy money” received from donors in the framework of the program to restore peace is expected to be allocated as follows: $1.26 billion on infrastructure and social services; $135.5 million on economic recovery; and $126.8 million on social stability, establishment of peace and public safety.
Earlier on August 31, the Ukrainian government approved the concept of the state program “Restoration and development of peace in the eastern regions of Ukraine.” The Crimea is not mentioned in the program, but it is expected that its refugees will also receive assistance. The recipients of program funds will include those from the part of the Donbas under the control of the Ukrainian government, as well as the Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where there are internally displaced persons, Chernysh said.
The economic recovery means “not only the restoration of damaged infrastructure, but also an approach to its development that would ensure the fulfillment of the needs of the locals, as well as people who have moved to the area,” Chernysh said. The Council for Coordination of the program will be headed by one of the deputy prime ministers of Ukraine.