Full List of Deals Signed at Ukraine Recovery Conference

The Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin (URC2024) proved fruitful, despite resignations among key reconstruction policymakers prior to the event. 

Some 3,000 participants took part according to the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko, as stated by Interfax-Ukraine. 

Key agreements – summarized below – relate to local governance, financial aid, reconstruction, energy, transport, human capital, aid for the private sector, insurance, housing, and further loan guarantees for banks. Note that figures stated below are in the currency they were reported in.

Economics and Budget 

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the first €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) of interest from frozen Russian assets will be transferred to Ukraine as early as July (the G7 announced $50 billion will be provided to Ukraine as a loan paid from Russian assets). 

• Th EU launched the Ukraine Investment Framework, signing the first guarantee agreements worth €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) under the investment component of the Ukraine Facility program. The new agreements include €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in loan guarantees and €400 million ($430 million) in mixed financial grants. The Ministry of Economy will make this funding available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), municipalities, Ukrainian state-owned enterprises, and for reconstruction and development of energy infrastructure.

• Ukraine and Japan signed 23 memorandums of cooperation that are part of a €188 million ($201 million) UN financial aid package aimed at various business sectors, reconstruction, energy and transfer of technologies. 

• The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed agreements totaling €517 million ($555 million) of EU funding to support Ukraine’s economy and recovery. This includes €143 million ($153 million) of EBRD projects with Ukrainian cities and the remainder of the funding to be deployed swiftly in several critical areas. The package includes:

• A financial guarantee of €140 million ($150 million) for the EBRD’s Financial Inclusion Recovery Program.

• Grants of €30 million and technical assistance of €7 million ($7.5 million) for the SME Competitiveness and Inclusion Program.

• A €150 million financial guarantee and €7.5 million ($8 million) of technical assistance go to the Hi-Bar guarantee program.

• A financial guarantee of €150 million ($160 million), along with blending grants of €25 million ($27 million) and technical assistance of €7.5 million ($8 million), for the EBRD’s Municipal, Infrastructure and Industrial Resilience Program.

• Ukraine held the first annual ministerial meeting of the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine (MDCP), which brought together representatives of 23 governments and seven international financial institutions – aimed at helping Ukraine develop a new framework for preparing public investment projects.

• Svyrydenko also posted on her Facebook page about an extra $35 million for land demining.

Local Government 

• The European Investment Bank (EIB) together with Ukraine signed a loan agreement worth €100 million ($107 million) for the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities and communities affected by the war. The funds will be used to construct schools, kindergartens, hospitals and local transportation, as well as ensuring the provision of essential and basic services such as clean water. Local communities will be able to apply to undertake projects to reconstruct healthcare and educational institutions, social housing, shelters, and water management facilities. The Ministry of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development will announce bid calls for projects soon. 

• Kyiv will receive EIB approved funding for the 112 emergency response system, railway upgrades, and metro modernization in the capital. This will also cover the restoration of damaged railway tracks, upgrade of railway border crossings with EU member states, as well as materials for the reconstruction of railway tracks and rolling stock, including wagons for Ukrzaliznytsia, the national railway company. 

• The EBRD will allocate €65 million ($70 million) overall in loan financing in order to resolve water supply issues in the city of Mykolaiv and heating in the cities of Kharkiv and Lutsk.

Housing 

• The EIB is providing €230 million ($247 million) for a program aimed at repairing apartment buildings damaged by the war, with an emphasis on energy efficiency measures.

• Another €200 million ($214 million) EIB program aims to develop and finance affordable housing in Ukraine. The EIB is working with Ukrainian partners to help develop housing policy, particularly for the affordable housing sector, reflecting the best European practices.

• The Council of Europe Development Bank will provide Ukraine with a €100 million ($107 million) loan under the HOME: Compensation for Destroyed Housing project. This will include a direct assistance mechanism (housing certificates) for war veterans, disabled people and multi-child families whose houses have been destroyed by Russia’s hostilities, the Ministry of Finance reported. 

• A $62 million grant from The World Bank will solve problems in the housing sector. Current funding offers support to 50,000 families in renovating their homes, with an aim to increase support for another 50,000 families by December 2024.
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Transportation

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is working with the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company (UDP) to finance its river cargo fleet renovation and modernization program.

Energy 

• Naftogaz secured a Technical Assistance Grant from the EIB to develop a Decarbonization Strategy, the state-owned company stated in its press release.

• National Power Company Ukrenergo will receive a €15 million ($16 million) grant from Germany’s state-owned development bank KfW to restore substations damaged by Russia’s attacks. 

• The Minister of Finance of Ukraine, Serhiy Marchenko, and current Regional Director for Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, Arup Banerji, signed Letters of Amendment to grant agreements under two key World Bank projects:

• $62 million under the Housing Repair for People's Empowerment Project (HOPE) will be used for small and medium-sized repairs of residential buildings partially damaged as a result of Russia's aggression.

• $47 million under the Restoration Project of Winterization and Energy Resources (Re-PoWER Ukraine) which aims to restore basic services to the energy sector of Ukraine.

• “Ukraine has signed several agreements aimed at promoting renewable energy sources, for the supply of gas turbine and gas piston units,” the first deputy prime minister told Interfax-Ukraine.

• Svyrydenko also posted on her Facebook page about an energy support package from the US valued at $824 million.

Human Capital

• A joint project – the Skills Alliance for Ukraine – has been allocated €700 million ($750 million) from 15 countries around the world, including international organizations and representatives from business circles, to combat unemployment among women, youth and internally displaced persons. Beneficiaries will have opportunities to learn new professions and study abroad. 

Banks

• State-owned Oschadbank signed a memorandum with German GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) for GIZ to provide the bank with comprehensive specialized technical and financial assistance to make it easier for micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) to access financial services.

• Oschadbank also signed a letter of intent with Finance in Motion GmbH – the adviser of the Green for Growth Fund, Southeast Europe. The aim is to make available a dedicated loan facility in local currency to finance the energy efficiency measures of its clients, as well as renewable energy projects in Ukraine. The investment is expected to be worth around €20 million ($21 million) equivalent in Ukrainian Hryvnia, complemented by grants for end-borrowers. The deal is tentatively expected to be completed in the second half of 2024. 

• Privatbank and EBRD signed a letter of intent to work on a risk-sharing deal worth €140 million ($150 million), the bank said in a press release. The total sum of loans that can be provided under the terms of the deal is estimated at €400 million ($429 million).

• The EBRD will lend €20 million ($21 million) in local currency to Ukraine’s Bank Lviv to facilitate access to finance for SMEs affected by Russia’s ongoing war on the country.

Private sector

• After the Berlin conference, the EBRD announced it will provide a loan of €70 million ($75 million) to Nova Poshta LLC, a leading Ukrainian express delivery and private postal company. 

• The EIB has unlocked more than €1 billion ($1.07 billion) in lending to SMEs – a major part of this package includes agreements for two guarantee facilities totaling €190 million ($204 million).

• Germany and Ukraine signed a joint declaration of intent on capacity development support for institutional development, coordinated through the German Development Bank KfW. This will support Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance and state-owned Business Development Fund that provides funding for interest rate compensation as a part of the “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%” program. 

• Fourteen agreements between Germany and Ukraine were signed during the forum estimated at €560 million ($600 million), according to Svyrdenko.

• The EBRD and IFC will provide $435 million for Datagroup-Volia and Lifecell. The funds will be allocated after the merger of the two companies concludes. It will be directed to support the convergence of fixed-mobile communications (FMC), increasing investments in the newly combined network, as well as the purchase of licenses and equipment necessary for the expansion of fixed and mobile infrastructure.

• The IFC and European Commission (EC)  announced the €367.5 million ($393.9 million) Better Futures Program: RE-Ukraine guarantee (including technical assistance) to scale up IFC's investments in Ukraine's private sector.

• The IFC joined the SME Resilience Alliance, launched by the government of Ukraine to strengthen and support SMEs.

• The IFC and Deutsche Bank are announcing the expansion of a trade finance collaboration, focusing on Ukraine.

• The EBRD mobilized new de-risking and risk-sharing tools from the EU and other development organizations for over €600 million ($643 million).

• The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced a financing package that includes political risk insurance transactions for Ukraine worth more than $350 million. Four components include:

• $50 million reinsurance facility brokered by Aon and distributed by ARX.

• $150 million in political risk insurance to maintain existing operations in Ukraine’s agricultural export sector.

• A political risk insurance contract for $152 million to a Ukrainian company involved in the manufacturing sector.

• $5 million in political risk insurance to support Ukrainian students’ access to higher education amid the war.

• The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group signed a memorandum of understanding with KUKE, aimed at promoting trade and foreign investments by Polish companies in Ukraine and other countries. The agreement establishes a framework for joint projects, including insurance, parallel insurance, and reinsurance arrangements.