Following billions in aid pledges from multilateral and bilateral donors in March, Ukraine is set to receive additional support under a newly launched multidonor fund.
Eight donors — Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States — have made 11 million euros ($13.8 million) available for the Ukraine Stabilization and Sustainable Growth Multidonor Account, which will be set up and managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Denmark, Japan and Norway have also expressed interest in contributing to the fund, according to Anton Usov, EBRD senior communications adviser for Ukraine.
The fund is meant to support much-needed policy reforms to improve the business climate in Ukraine, whose economy — one of the worst affected during the 2007-08 global financial crisis — took a hit following the Crimean standoff early this year. The International Monetary Fund projects growth in real gross domestic product to decline 6.5 percent this year and improve marginally by 1 percent in 2015.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
