Because of the Russian attack, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine needs support of seven billion dollars (about 6.5 billion euros) a month just to make up for economic losses. “And we’re going to need hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild,” Zelenskyy said in a video speech yesterday at an International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meeting in Washington.
Russian forces destroyed infrastructure, schools, universities, hospitals and countless houses and apartments in Ukraine, he said. “Russian artillery, Russian missiles, Russian bombings do not distinguish who they kill and which buildings they bomb or burn,” Zelenskyy said, according to a simultaneous English translation.
IMF chief promotes aid
Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal told the meeting in Washington that Ukraine will need about four to five billion US dollars in foreign support in each of the next few months. International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva praised the Kiev government for still ensuring relative macroeconomic stability through prudent actions despite the war.
Georgieva campaigned for help to Ukraine “as much as possible” in the form of grants rather than loans. Funding needs and how they are to be met need to be more precisely identified, she said. But to prevent Kiev from accumulating significant debt, the support should not be given as a loan, Georgieva said.
Because of the war in Ukraine, for the first time there was no joint declaration at the biannual IMF ministerial meeting. “Russia’s war against Ukraine has made it impossible to find consensus,” said IMF Steering Committee Chair, Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calvino. But you have the support of the “overwhelming majority” of the 189 members.