Restoring infrastructure in Ukraine: how and for whose money

“Russia killed them” - an inscription on a cube with portraits of those killed in the attack on a high-rise building in Uman. It still smells like fire here. A man approaches the portraits of the murdered, prays, and crosses himself. The date April 28, 2023 is visible above the portraits of the victims.

And a list of 23 names of people who were killed by a missile fired by Russia at night. Both adults and children are here. These civilians, who lived hundreds of kilometers from the front, of course, did not pose a threat to the Russian Federation. But she killed them. Funds help those who survived. Some were placed in Hasidic hotels, others received social housing

The windows of the houses in Uman that were damaged by the missile attack were replaced by the charitable organization GEM. In total, more than a thousand were replaced. This is targeted assistance from a foreign organization, which also donates water purification systems to villagers in Africa and helps victims of the earthquake in Turkey.

The restoration of infrastructure in Ukraine should take place using Ukrainian budget funds and with the support of donors. We can expect a recovery thanks to the reparations collected from Russia. But when will this happen? Reconstruction of Europe after World War II began three years after its completion. In Ukraine, the war continues, Russia attacks daily, causing damage. However, the restoration of some facilities and the implementation of certain projects is already ongoing.

At the end of 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers merged the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development of Communities and Territories into the Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine. At the beginning of 2023, the State Agency for Rehabilitation and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine was created, which is responsible for the implementation of projects.

The submission mechanism is as follows: projects are submitted from local governments to regional military administrations. Next - to the relevant ministries. The Cabinet of Ministers makes a decision. And then the budget committee of parliament makes a decision. The Ministry of Infrastructure is the main manager of funds. Its structure includes the Reconstruction Agency, which is a secondary financial manager.

Under the Agency is the Fund for Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression. The resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers clearly state what the Fund's funds are used for. The state budget for the current year includes UAH 35.5 billion for it. Ukraine wants to involve the World Bank in filling the Fund.

In the summer it was reported that since the beginning of the war, international partners have allocated about €170 billion to Ukraine. This amount includes military, financial and humanitarian assistance from foreign governments, as well as international financial organizations. According to the Ukraine Support Tracker system, 40 countries, as well as European institutions, the IMF and the World Bank, became donors to Ukraine.

An Interagency Donor Coordination Platform has been created to attract partner countries to reconstruction.

The post-war reconstruction of Ukraine will cost a trillion dollars. Last year, President Vladimir Zelensky proposed a new recovery model to international partners - patronage of a region, city, community or industry. About three dozen countries have already shown interest in this.

How it works in the regions of Ukraine as a whole across the country

The work of the Donor Platform is not limited to the participants who exist today: any partner country can join the restoration of Ukraine by submitting proposals to the Ministry of Infrastructure or state administrations of the relevant regions. Deputy Ministry of Infrastructure for European Integration Anna Yurchenko gives an example: “The Ministry of Infrastructure concluded a Memorandum of Understanding regarding partnership between Nikolaev, Mykolayiv region and Denmark, signed on March 8, 2023.

The draft Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Chernigov Regional Military Administration and the United Nations Development Program is at the stage of preparation for signing.”

The Chernihiv region was one of the first to be hit in 2022, when Russian troops entered there. As of August 25 of this year, 494 enterprises, institutions and organizations of all forms of ownership in the region were damaged.

The French government will also provide assistance to the Chernigov region. The leadership of the Ile-de-France region decided to allocate €1.1 million for projects to support Ukraine and develop cooperation with the Kyiv and Chernigov regions. Thanks to the assistance of partners from France, four buses, three prefabricated structures of artificial structures for public roads of national importance and structures for the installation of three destroyed bridges for highways have already been provided for the needs of the region.

The French government also donated generators and construction materials, digital tablets, medical supplies, and modular boiler rooms to the Chernihiv region.

With the assistance of the German Embassy in Ukraine, the community received front-end loaders, a utility vehicle, office equipment and furniture for the youth center, an ambulance and a minibus.

With the assistance of the Estonian government, a modular kindergarten is being built in Ovruch and a road bridge across the Irsha River in Malin, destroyed during a bombing in March 2022, is being repaired.

In the Kyiv region, the Lithuanian government financed the renovation of the Irpin kindergarten “Joy” and Borodyansky Lyceum No. 1.

To attract investors and select countries, the Kyiv administration has a Regional Office for International Cooperation. Also, France, Great Britain, the USA, Norway, and Switzerland are helping to restore damaged facilities in the communities of the Kyiv region.

A kindergarten restored by Lithuania opens in Irpen. The country is intensifying its participation in the restoration and reconstruction of Ukraine. Two new projects will be implemented by the Central Project Management Agency. It will be responsible for preparing the technical project for the “School of the Future”, as well as providing expert support in strengthening the administrative capacity of the Ukrainian Agency for Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development.

“These projects are significant and long-term, they are aimed at restoring the educational sector of Ukraine and strengthening institutional competencies in reconstruction. Projects started last year have already been completed or are in their final stages. I am very glad that on August 24, the Ruta kindergarten, restored by Lithuanians, will open its doors in Irpen,” said Chancellor of the Lithuanian Government Giedre Balcytyte.

Last year, Lithuania participated in the implementation of four pilot bilateral projects in Ukraine.

“Lithuania believes in the victory of Ukraine, we see the strength of the Ukrainian people not only in the fight against the enemy, but also in the restoration of their country, which is still undergoing destruction,” Giedre Balcytyte emphasized. “We are doing everything possible to make our contribution. Since the beginning of the Russian military invasion, total support to Ukraine from Lithuanian institutions - including military, humanitarian, reconstruction, refugee and other needs - has exceeded €1 billion. Assistance is growing, complemented by expert support from national institutions, as well as significant contributions from public initiatives, who are raising funds.

The amount allocated for the restoration of Ukraine is €17 million. A successful Ukraine will be the best proof of the impotence of Russia the aggressor. Ukraine's children need to go to school, its economy needs infrastructure to maintain its vitality."

On your own

Unlike the front-line areas, the central ones have significantly less damage. For example, the Cherkasy region is being restored at the expense of state and local budgets.

“At the same time, for restoration, the Ministry of Infrastructure, together with the Recovery Agency, launched in pilot mode the Digital Ecosystem for Recovery Management - DREAM,” says the head of the Cherkasy OV Igor Taburets. “This is a state electronic ecosystem that will provide a single digital route for restoration projects.

It will collect all information about projects online and ensure the publication of open data for investors. Using the system, international organizations will be able to select projects for financing. Also, the regional military administration is constantly looking for sources of funding. In particular, with the support of international partners, foundations, institutions and organizations.

To illustrate, we can recall medical equipment from Germany, which recently strengthened Cherkassy medicine and was provided thanks to the trip of representatives of regional authorities and local government from Zvenigorodka to Germany. We also recently provided assistance from the community of this country to the Cherkassy Center for Social and Physical Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities.”