The World Bank's US $500 Million Loan To Ukraine, Explained

What You Need To Know:

✅ The World Bank announced an additional US $500 million loan to strengthen Ukraine’s financial sector;
✅ One focus will be to assist in the longer term financing of small and medium sized enterprises as well as services provided to communities;
✅ On incidents of corruption in road improvement projects in Ukraine: “We expect the government to take action. We can’t get involved in personal issues;”
✅ “Without tackling the corruption and enhancing the governance in Ukraine, none of the other reforms will work.”

The World Bank announced an additional US $500 million loan to strengthen Ukraine’s financial sector, despite numerous corruption allegations and the slow pace of reforms. The Bank is preparing a $500 million gas guarantee, which will support the purchase of gas for the heating season. Another focus will be to assist in the longer term financing of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as services provided to communities, explains Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine.

The World Bank previously committed US $1 billion and is already working with the Ukrainian government to prioritize of transport corridors and help what would be “priority investments to move forward and try to get other donors as well as private investors to come in and finance road construction.”

While there have been incidents of corruption reported in road improvement projects in Ukraine, Kahkonen says the projects are moving forward and the Bank is watching carefully: “We expect the government to take action. We can’t get involved in personal issues.”
“Without tackling the corruption and enhancing the governance in Ukraine, none of the other reforms will work,” she adds.

Hromadske’s Volodymyr Solohub spoke to Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine in September 2016 in Kyiv.