Ukraine may need up to EUR1 trillion in foreign aid to repair the damage caused by the Russian invasion, Bloomberg reports the words of the head of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, at a press conference in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
“I put (estimate) a trillion because I saw numbers in the public space that I consider completely unrealistic when I see the level of destruction in Ukraine,” Hoyer said.
In his opinion, Europe will have to play the biggest role in these efforts.
The head of the EIB also said that he is currently trying to redistribute the bank’s liabilities in the amount of EUR1 to EUR1.5 billion to restore Ukraine. According to him, the corresponding approval can be obtained as early as this week.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine at the end of March, also said that Ukraine’s losses from Russia’s full-scale military aggression, taking into account both the destruction already inflicted on infrastructure and the economy, and future losses in subsequent years, exceed $1 trillion.
According to him, its first component is direct infrastructure damage, which at that time was estimated at about $120 billion, and taking into account military infrastructure and other civilian expenses, more than $270 billion.
The prime minister added that the second component is the calculation of the losses of the Ukrainian economy: the fall in GDP during the war, lost profits and investments – more than $ 290 billion, and the third – the losses received by the state as a result of a decrease in GDP in the future.
According to the State Statistics Service, in 2021, Ukraine’s GDP grew by 3.4% after a 3.8% decline in 2020, its nominal volume amounted to about $200 billion. This year, the fall in GDP is predicted by various experts in the range of 30-45%.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday signed the law on ratification of the Istanbul Convention, adopted by Parliament on Monday.
“Signed! The Law on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. Its main content is simple, but extremely important. This is an obligation to protect women from violence and various forms of discrimination,” the head of state wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, within the framework of the new eWork project, approved the procedure for providing non-refundable micro-grants for the development or creation of new horticulture, berry growing, viticulture and greenhouse facilities.
The government adopted the relevant resolution at a meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said on his Telegram channel.
Program participants can be private entrepreneurs, agricultural companies and farms that own or lease land for a period of at least 25 years.
Thus, the amount of microgrants issued under the program of partial compensation for the cost of constructed greenhouses will be from UAH 5 to 7 million. Also, farmers will be provided with UAH 300,000 to 400,000 per hectare of orchards, which corresponds to approximately 70% of the average cost of planting them.
“The funds will go to the recipient’s bank account for the transparent purchase of seedlings, equipment, irrigation systems, fertilizers, etc.,” the prime minister summed up in the message.
The Government of Ukraine is launching an employment reform, according to which officially registered unemployed who have not been employed for 30 days will be involved in socially useful work, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
“The government is launching a reform of the entire employment sector. In the context of a full-scale war, we need to mobilize all possible resources to defeat the Russian occupiers. This also applies to the organization of work in the rear. The government will today approve a document providing that the officially registered unemployed, who have not been employed for 30 days, will be involved in community service,” Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Tuesday.
According to him, this may be the removal of rubble, the construction of protective structures, landscaping, repair or agricultural work.
“What exactly needs to be done in each particular region will be determined by local authorities. Of course, this work will be paid. The state will pay everyone involved in socially useful work a minimum wage. We are actually eliminating the possibility when people could receive money from the state and refuse the job offer. In wartime conditions, the state does not have the resources for this. Everyone must either fight and defend the Motherland, or work for victory and for the front,” the prime minister emphasized.
Shmyhal also said that the status and unemployment benefits are now lost if a person is abroad for more than 30 days during martial law.
“Our task now is simple and clear – everyone must work to win. To do this, it is necessary to consolidate all possible resources. All these steps to create new jobs, reform the employment sector, grant assistance to businesses is a new economic policy that will help our country survive, win, begin to rapidly restore and restore our state,” he summed up.
According to the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, in the Telegram channel, according to the decisions made, changes were made to the Procedure for organizing public and other temporary works, providing for the specifics of organizing public works under martial law.
In particular, it provides for the priority involvement in public works of registered unemployed who have not found suitable work, and workers who have lost part of their wages.
Changes have also been made to the procedure for engaging able-bodied persons in socially useful work under martial law, in terms of involving military administrations in making decisions on the introduction of labor service, involving internally displaced persons in socially useful work, extending to persons involved in performing socially useful work, requirements of the legislation in the field of obligatory state social insurance.
In addition, excluded from the list of persons involved in community service, persons involved in the implementation of measures of national resistance.
An indicative list of socially useful works that can be performed under martial law has also been approved.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of June 21
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 21/06/22
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
