World Bank to Loan Ukraine $1.5 Billion for ‘Reconstruction’

The World Bank is loaning Ukraine $1.5 billion for the country’s reconstruction and recovery during the Russian invasion.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Friday that the money will go towards social security and economic development, according to Reuters.

“In particular, the loan will help support subsidies for internally displaced people and pension payments,” Shmyhal noted.

In a press release Thursday, the World Bank said its board of executive directors approved the Ukraine Relief and Recovery Policy Loan:

This loan is guaranteed by the Government of Japan under the Advancing Needed Credit Enhancement for Ukraine Trust Fund (ADVANCE Ukraine) and forms an integral part of the international support package for Ukraine to meet its financing needs in 2023.

…

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine World Bank-mobilized support has enabled the Government of Ukraine to provide essential services that are reaching more than 13 million Ukrainians. With today’s announcement the World Bank Group has now facilitated more than $37.5 billion in emergency financing in support of the people of Ukraine, including commitments and pledges from donors including: the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Iceland, and Belgium.

In April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky informed leaders of the World Bank and other financial heads that his country needed $14.1 billion to help start repairing infrastructure, according to Breitbart News.

However, the outlet noted that Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, long before Zelensky’s political career took off, and colonized Ukraine’s Crimea region:

Outraged officials in Europe and America suddenly began prioritizing the Ukraine war in February 2022, when Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced he would send Russian troops to formally invade Ukraine, rather than merely support local separatists, and that they would conduct a “special operation” to oust Zelensky.

Meanwhile, congressional hawks plan to argue for additional Ukraine aid, Breitbart News reported Wednesday.

The news came after Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s short-lived uprising in Russia on Saturday.

Per Breitbart News:

After the debt ceiling deal, otherwise known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, was passed, it limited defense spending to $866 billion. This means that additional Ukraine aid would have to be passed through a supplemental package or by offsetting defense spending.

It added that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) rejected the idea and said it had no traction in the House.

The report further noted that Ukraine has received over $113 billion in military and economic aid from the United States.