Ukraine will receive a $170 million grant from Japan to implement Ukraine’s “Rapid Recovery Plan,” Japanese Ambassador Matsuda Kuninori and Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov signed the agreement on Friday.
According to the Ministry of Reconstruction, the day before, the deputy prime minister also signed a memorandum under which the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will independently oversee the use of funds for housing reconstruction in the Kiev region.
“Transparency and accountability are the basic principles of the approach to reconstruction. Without fulfilling these conditions, the involvement of international partners and, in general, the effective restoration of the destroyed is impossible (…) We plan to scale the successful experience of supervision and cooperation with UNDP in matters of independent supervision to other restoration projects in different regions of Ukraine”, – Kubrakov noted.
According to him, similar cooperation is planned with other international organizations – financial or expert.
In addition to independent oversight, UNDP will support digitalization of reconstruction, development and monitoring processes in regional development, work on enhancing the capacity of local governments to implement infrastructure projects, community access to international donor funding and energy efficiency of social infrastructure.
In addition, the UN Development Program will provide technical support to Ukraine in reconstruction.
As reported, the Government of Japan has allocated $170 million for Ukraine’s reconstruction, and before that another $95 million, which was sent to the UNDP Development Program in the framework of a partnership agreement.
In addition, in January, the “Recovery” direction was launched within the framework of the fundraising platform United24. Due to it, 18 apartment buildings in Irpen, Borodyanka, Gostomel, Buzova and Mily will be fundamentally repaired and about 4000 residents will be able to return into their homes by the end of 2023. For this purpose, according to the decision of the government, more than 500 million UAH collected at the special account of United24 will be directed.
Japan will hold an online G7 meeting on February 24, which will be joined by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, in addition, Tokyo will allocate $5.5 billion in aid to Ukraine, the Associated Press quotes the statement of Prime Minister of this country Fumio Kishida.
During his speech at a forum in Tokyo, Kishida said that his country will host the first summit of the G7, which will be held on February 24.
He also announced that Japan will provide assistance so that Ukraine can “rebuild daily life and infrastructure.
The Japanese government will allocate another $170 million in 2023 for emergency reconstruction projects, particularly critical infrastructure, in addition to the $95 million already allocated earlier this year, according to the Ministry of Reconstruction’s website.
“The unconditional priority at this stage of reconstruction is the restoration of critical infrastructure necessary to meet the basic needs of citizens. This is a necessary step to return Ukrainians to their homes and maintain economic development in the regions,” the release quotes Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov as saying.
It is noted that the assistance provides Japanese partners with goods and services necessary for the reconstruction. Ukraine will receive these funds under a grant agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),
Kubrakov thanked partners for the support, noting that it is extremely valuable and necessary. Deputy Prime Minister expressed hope that after the war it would be possible to quickly move on to long-term investment projects.
As reported, in early January, the Japanese government allocated $95 million for reconstruction. These funds are directed to the UN Development Program (UNDP) in the framework of a partnership agreement.
The Japanese government has allocated $95 million for government work and reconstruction of Ukraine, the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure said.
The document was signed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Kuninor Matsuda and UNDP Assistant Administrator, Director of UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS Ivana Zhivkovich with participation of Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov.
The funds will be sent to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as part of a partnership agreement.
“While the Armed Forces of Ukraine are liberating territories from occupiers, the government is working with international partners to implement ‘survival projects’: restoring transport links to the liberated regions, creating conditions for citizens to return to their homes, maintaining the economy in the regions,” the Ministry of Community, Territory and Infrastructure Development said in a statement.
Ukraine’s aid program focuses on five key areas:
Strengthening the government’s ability to respond to and manage the crisis;
supporting public services so they can continue their work;
rebuilding critical infrastructure so people can return home safely;
Supporting private businesses so they can continue to operate, thereby supporting communities;
Strengthening civil society and social ties.
Earlier, in April 2022, Japan had already allocated $4.5 million for emergency explosive ordnance clearance and debris removal.
Japan has already provided Ukraine with $1.1 billion in financial, humanitarian and military aid and intends to allocate another $500 million, the Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda said.
“As for the assistance, we have already provided $1.1 billion and we intend to provide another $500 million in aid. We are also considering other aid packages,” the ambassador said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The ambassador stressed that since the first days of the full-scale invasion by Russia, Japan started to provide financial, humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine.
Regarding military aid, he noted that by law Japan cannot directly provide weapons, but for the first time the Japanese government has decided to provide non-lethal equipment, including drones, helmets, body armor, winter clothing, as well as first-aid kits and rations.
“We continue to expand the list. And now we are in talks with our Ukrainian counterparts about the possibility of providing dual-use technology,” the ambassador added.
Matsuda also stressed that Japan also supports Ukraine through diplomatic efforts.
“We are reaching out to those countries that have not yet decided their position on this war, or to those countries that are still remaining neutral. These are the goals of our diplomatic approach. That’s how we try to convince them to support Ukraine or participate in international sanctions regimes,” he said.
An exclusive interview with Japan’s ambassador to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda will be published on the Interfax-Ukraine website.
Asian stock indices started the working week without any dynamics, while the stock markets of mainland China and Hong Kong went negative on the statistics.
China’s economy expanded 3.9% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, the State Bureau of Statistics (GSO) said. Thus, the growth rate accelerated significantly compared to 0.4% in April-June. Analysts on average expected an increase of 3.4-3.5%.
China’s GDP in January-September increased by 3%. This is significantly below the target set by the authorities of the country as a whole for 2022 at the level of about 5.5%, experts say.
Retail sales in the country in September increased by 2.5% compared to the same month a year earlier, the CSO also reported. This is the minimum rate of recovery over the past four months. The consensus forecast assumed growth of 3.3%.
China’s foreign trade surplus widened unexpectedly in September, as import growth was significantly weaker than exports. Imports increased by only 0.3% in annual terms, exports grew by 5.7%. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal, on average, predicted the growth of the first indicator by 1%, the second – by 4%.
The Chinese Shanghai Composite index decreased by 1.2% by 08:37 Moscow time. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged 5.4% to its lowest in more than thirteen years.
Shares of Internet companies Meituan (SPB: 3690) (-12.4%), Baidu Inc. (SPB: BIDU) (-10.7%) and Tencent (SPB: 700) Holdings Ltd. (-9.2%), as well as the developer Longfor Group Holdings Ltd. (-12.2%).
Retailers Alibaba Group (SPB: BABA) and JD.com Inc. (SPB: JD) lost 10.4% and 11%, respectively.
Among the components of Hang Seng, only six stocks show an increase in value, including HSBC bank (+0.5%), developer CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. (+3.4%) and electrical equipment manufacturer Techtronic Industries Co. (+1.1%).
The value of the Japanese Nikkei 225 increased by 0.5% by 08:33 Moscow time.
The stocks of the transport companies Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. have risen most significantly. (+4.4%), Mitsui O.S.K. lines ltd. (+4.2%) and Nippon Yusen K.K. (+3.7%), as well as non-ferrous metal producer Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. (+4.1%).
The South Korean Kospi index added 0.9% by 08:30 Moscow time.
Quotes of securities of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of chips and electronics Samsung Electronics Co. rise by 2.7%, while the cost of automaker Hyundai Motor fell by a similar amount.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.5%.
The capitalization of the world’s largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto increased by 2.6% and 1.2%, respectively.
In addition, shares of all four largest banks in the country fell in price: Commonwealth Bank – by 1.2%, ANZ Bank – by 0.2%, Westpac Banking – by 0.6% and National Australia Bank – by 0.7%.
