The Japanese government has announced a $471 million contribution to the World Bank’s Ukraine Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reform Trust Fund (URTF).
“This contribution is part of a $5.5 billion pledge Japan made in February to help rebuild destroyed infrastructure and support the people of Ukraine in rebuilding. Of the pledged amount, $5 billion is loan coverage that will support World Bank loans to Ukraine next year,” the WB said in a release Saturday.
According to Japanese Deputy Finance Minister Kentaro Ogata, Japan expects its contributions to be used effectively to meet Ukraine’s urgent critical infrastructure repair needs.
The URTF is a multi-donor fund that supports World Bank emergency operations in Ukraine in key sectors including transportation, health and energy. These projects reflect the country’s emergency assistance needs outlined in an updated Rapid Damage and Recovery Needs Assessment (RDNA) published last month. The projects are designed to be adaptable to what’s happening on the ground, while making a quick impact.
This grant contribution more than doubles URTF funds, WB points out. Total grant resources for urgent repairs to energy infrastructure, roads, bridges, housing, schools, and hospitals now total more than $850 million. URTF now supports the Energy Recovery and Winterization Preparation Project, the Rehabilitation of Essential Logistics Infrastructure and Networking (RELINC) and the Health System Strengthening and Life Preservation (HEAL) Project.
In the new RDNA, the World Bank estimated that Ukraine will face an $11 billion funding gap in 2023 to cover critical economic and capital spending.
The URTF was established in December 2022. The fund helps Ukraine plan and implement a recovery, sustainable recovery and reform program. Using a framework approach, URTF ensures that the Ukrainian authorities can effectively and extensively leverage multiple sources of funding.
URTF is strategically guided by a Partnership Council. It is co-chaired by the World Bank Group and the Government of Ukraine and includes development partners. URTF participants include Austria, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. The Program Management Team is responsible for the day-to-day management of URTF participants’ funds.
