While the big-donor dollars flowing to Ukraine have largely gone to public and military support, development finance institutions have also been investing to prop up the country’s beleaguered private sector. And as the war enters its second year, many of them intend to ramp up that support.
In the months following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, bilateral and multilateral development finance institutions worked with their existing clients to adjust loan terms or address immediate needs. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation even helped businesses relocate. Investments in eastern and southern Ukraine have often suffered the most, and some have taken losses as a result of damage to physical assets.
With reconstruction costs in the hundreds of billions — likely already nearly double the $350 billion estimate from June, according to some sources — private capital will play a critical role.