Today, the 11th Steering Committee Meeting of the Ukraine Donor Platform took place in Rome. The meeting brought together senior representatives of the permanent and temporary members of the Platform, as well as International Financial Institutions. Participants reiterated the Platform’s unwavering support for Ukraine and its commitment to continue working to help Ukraine meet its immediate and long-term financing needs.
The meeting was co-chaired by European Commission Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert Jan Koopman, Ukraine’s Minister of Finance Sergii Marchenko, and the US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh. On the Ukrainian side, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksiy Kuleba, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev also participated either in person or online.
Budget financing needs
Prime Minister Shmyhal opened the meeting by thanking partners for their support and underlining the need for continued assistance in 2025. He emphasised Ukraine's commitment to reforms, notably in the context of its EU accession process.
Finance Minister Marchenko presented Ukraine's total external budget financing needs for 2024 and 2025, projected at $41.3 billion and $38.4 billion respectively. The Steering Committee underlined that they expect to close the external financing gap for 2024 and that they continue to assess how to meet emerging additional budget needs caused by Russia’s ongoing aggression.
The Steering Committee underscored the importance of G7 members’ ongoing joint work to fulfil the collective commitment made at the June 2024 Summit in Apulia to launch Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loans for Ukraine - of approximately $50 billion – by the end of the year, including the European Commission’s proposal for a Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance as the EU's contribution to the ERA loans. These are intended to be disbursed through multiple channels that direct the funds to Ukraine’s military, budget, and reconstruction needs.
The Steering Committee took note of the Prime Minister of Ukraine’s top funding priorities for this winter, including energy supply and heating, protection of critical energy infrastructure, response to the water supply crisis in the south of Ukraine and measures to address housing needs.
The Commission, for its part, also updated the Steering Committee on the expected payments under the Ukraine Plan in 2024 and 2025. In August, the Commission had disbursed nearly €4.2 billion to Ukraine under the first Pillar of the Ukraine Facility. This brings to €12 billion the total EU funding disbursed to the Ukrainian government under the Facility so far.
Public financial management for recovery and reconstruction
The Steering Committee reiterated the importance of sound public financial management, including as one of the fundamental elements for Ukraine’s EU accession path. In this context, it noted Ukraine’s substantial progress on a Public Investment Management Roadmap and the Strategic Investment Council’s prioritisation of public investment projects within the pilot Single Project Pipeline (SPP) for 2025. It welcomed the jointly proposed concept for a Framework for Project Preparation for Ukraine, including moving ahead on two Project Preparation Facilities to boost Ukraine’s ability to prepare and implement projects: the Ukraine PPF, to be administered by the Government of Ukraine with support from the World Bank, and Ukraine FIRST, to be administered by the EIB and EBRD and for which the European Commission announced a €20 million allocation.
Reforms driving sustainable growth
The Steering Committee welcomed Ukraine’s strong and continuing progress on reforms, which are central to Ukraine’s EU accession path and to improving the business climate. Members also welcomed the Government of Ukraine’s update of the Reforms Matrix as a public tool for accountability, transparency, and stakeholder coordination, including with civil society. The Commission underlined the centrality of the accession process for any conditionalities involving regulatory changes. The re-launching of Kyiv-based Sector Working Groups, which provide a Government of Ukraine-led in-country coordination structure to complement the Platform’s work was also welcomed.
Private sector engagement
Emphasising the importance of stakeholder engagement in Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, the Steering Committee welcomed hearing from the Business Advisory Council on their first set of advice and recommendations. Recognising the important role of Ukraine’s active civil society, the Steering Committee also committed to strengthen the Platform’s regular engagement with civil society.
Background
The Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform — renamed the Ukraine Donor Platform in September 2024— was launched on 26 January 2023 to coordinate efforts to address Ukraine's financing needs, both in the short to medium-term.
The Platform’s Steering Committee brings together high-level officials from Ukraine, the EU, and the G7 countries as permanent members.
In February 2024, it welcomed four additional temporary members - the Republic of Korea, The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden – with Denmark joining in October 2024. The Platform now also includes nine countries with observer status: Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland. International Financial Institutions and organisations, namely the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also participate in the Platform.
The next Steering Committee meeting is expected to take place early in 2025.
For More Information
Details
- Publication date
- 9 October 2024
- Author
- Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations