According to Finance Ministry data, over the past 12 months, Ukraine has received $36.4 billion from external sources, of which about 60% were concessional loans and the rest grants.
Washington was Kiev’s top lender, providing nearly $13 billion in grants over the period, while the European Union extended just over $11 billion in a mix of grants and loans. At number three was the IMF, with the Washington-based lender providing $2.7 billion.
private sector
In addition to helping nationally, several multilateral lenders have focused on providing financing to the private sector, which has helped shore up Ukrainian firms since the start of the year.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) deployed nearly 1.7 billion euros to Ukraine in 2022 for investment in critical infrastructure, energy and food security and private sector support.
This includes providing hundreds of millions to Ukraine’s railway company Ukrzaliznytsia, power grid operator Ukrenergo and gas firm Naftogaz, as well as private sector companies.
The lender says it is on track to take the total amount raised to 3 billion euros by the end of 2023.
The World Bank’s private investment arm, International Finance Corp, also signed off on plans for a $2 billion support package in December, which the lender hopes to co-finance in similar measure with governments.
It did not detail a timetable for the governments potentially involved, or the amount of money that would be released.
Lisa Kestner, regional manager for Ukraine at IFC, said the lender was looking for projects in the transport and communications sector as well as agribusiness, as Ukrainians work to resurrect businesses disrupted by the war.
“Understanding the risk is really challenging,” Kestner said. “But to me, one of the surprises has been how the private sector has been so resilient.”
Both the IFC and EBRD are also among investors in a fund managed by private equity firm Horizon Capital, which in turn invests in tech and export-oriented businesses in Ukraine and Moldova. The fund raised $125 million in the first closing in September, and plans to reach $200 million soon.
Ukraine’s costs will only grow from here. The Kiev School of Economics estimated last month that the war caused total damage to the country’s infrastructure at $138 billion.