Together with international partners, Ukraine has attracted 22 billion hryvnias to finance local and regional restoration projects. This was stated by Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine – Minister for Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine during a conference call with the heads of regional state administrations.

The Minister informed the representatives of the local authorities about the available sources of financing for restoration projects, including the Fund for the Liquidation of the Consequences of Armed Aggression (Liquidation Fund), as well as three programmes supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB). Submission of applications for financing, as well as monitoring and auditing of the implementation of approved projects, will be enabled through the public electronic reconstruction management system, DREAM. Expert teams from UNDP and the Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development will be involved to monitor the quality of recovery projects, their compliance with the requirements of accessibility, energy efficiency and the availability of bomb shelters.

“Recovery begins with municipalities, because it is the local level where a person should get access to basic, vitally important services. Leadership in reconstruction is a responsibility, which is why our team focuses on transparency and accountability of the reconstruction process at the central, regional and local levels. All restoration projects that will be implemented at the expense of the Liquidation Fund and EIB loan programmes are in the DREAM system, which will ensure proper reporting on the progress of projects. This is important for the state, donors, partners and the public,” said Oleksandr Kubrakov.

As part of the first tranche from the Liquidation Fund, municipalities and regions will receive 6.6 billion hryvnias for the implementation of 157 restoration projects. Of them, 44% are projects of capital repairs of apartment buildings, and the rest cover public and critical infrastructure, schools and kindergartens, as well as water supply and drainage restoration projects. The Reconstruction Agency is expected to receive 3.6 billion hryvnias from the Liquidation Fund shortly for the implementation of 44 projects of reconstruction of residential buildings, critical infrastructure and public facilities. The Agency implements flagship national projects and projects for municipalities that lack the capacity and resources to implement critical restoration projects.

The next meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group on the allocation of funds from the Liquidation Fund is scheduled for Friday, July 7. It will be followed by the approval of the housing sector and critical infrastructure restoration projects. The primary purpose is capital repairs of high-rise buildings and preparation of the infrastructure for the heating season 2023-24. The Interdepartmental Working Group considers only the projects registered in the DREAM ecosystem.

In addition, almost 4.5 billion hryvnias of the remaining EIB loan funds will be transferred as a subvention from the state budget for the design, construction and restoration of public and social facilities, cultural heritage, housing and municipal properties, as well as other site that have an effect on the life of the population. Projects proposed by Regional Military Administrations (RMA) are to be approved by the Ministry for Reconstruction, and funding for approved projects will go directly to regional budgets. RMAs can submit their proposals for project financing at the expense of subvention until 19 July 2023.

In 2023-2024, 71 projects are to receive 3 billion hryvnias worth of loan financing as part of the EIB’s Early Ukraine Recovery Programme. These projects have already passed the competitive selection process, and the relevant Government Resolution is currently being drafted to allow the municipalities to receive funding in the coming weeks.

The Government also approved the distribution of the 2023 subvention from the state budget to local budgets as part of the Ukraine Recovery Programme in the amount of 5.3 billion hryvnias to finance 109 municipal projects that were competitively selected according to the procedure agreed with the EIB. Furthermore, competitive selection proposals for the allocation of 4.1 billion hryvnias are being developed. The projects are monitored by UNDP experts. All projects under these programmes are also registered in the DREAM ecosystem, which enables reporting on the construction process.