Rome, Italy - July 10, 2025
As prepared for delivery
It is a privilege to join you here today on behalf of the World Bank Group.
We meet at a critical moment for Ukraine. While we all await peace and stability, the journey of rebuilding begins now. According to the latest Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, Ukraine will require $524 billion over the next decade to recover and rebuild. That is nearly three times the country’s current GDP.
Since February 2022, the World Bank Group has mobilized more than $81 billion for Ukraine, with $57 billion already disbursed to help the country respond to urgent needs and lay the foundation for a better tomorrow.
Behind this number are real people. This is about families needing homes, children needing schools, and communities needing access to health care, energy, and other critical public services. This is what support from the World Bank Group and a dedicated group of Ukraine’s partners has been able to provide.
Still, public resources alone are not enough. We are working across the World Bank Group—including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)—to mobilize private capital, as it is the private sector that will fuel the recovery.
We also recognize that Ukraine’s recovery is not only about financing. That is why we are supporting the government on its post-war economic strategy: “the Ukraine Economy of the Future”—an economy that is ready for EU accession with the private sector at the center.
Let me briefly describe the economy of the future in what we refer to as the “fours”: four opportunities, four challenges, and four areas of reform.
Opportunity first arises from integration with the European Union that opens markets and anchors reforms. Second, emerging sectors and skills, including information technology and defense technologies, can be leveraged for the new economy. Third, reconstruction can attract substantial investment and revitalize local economies. Lastly, opportunity also comes from the support of the international community and a vibrant Ukrainian civil society.
However, there are many challenges to overcome. First is the destruction of capital and acute labor shortages that constrain growth. Second, the war has led to substantial macroeconomic imbalances, particularly large fiscal deficits, and closing them will be difficult. Third, increased poverty poses social risks. And lastly, the need to move away from Ukraine’s old, undynamic economic model of a large shadow economy and heavy state footprint. At pre-war growth rates, it would take Ukraine around 37 years to converge to 25% of average EU GDP per capita. That is too long for the people of Ukraine.
What would it take for a private sector-led economic recovery? Put simply: accelerating and delivering on Ukraine’s ambitious reform agenda, including existing reform commitments—as per the government’s Reform Matrix. Many reforms can be done now, even before a ceasefire. And the stronger the reform effort, the higher the growth dividend. Let me highlight some priorities in four areas:
Reforms to strengthen the foundations for growth. A well-designed fiscal adjustment can support reconstruction spending without hindering growth, for example, by reforming the tax regime that keeps firms small and informal. Strengthening governance—especially on anti-corruption—remains central to restoring investor and public confidence.
Reforms to rebuild critical infrastructure. Key to this is creating markets, for example a housing market through developing housing finance, and establishing frameworks such as public-private partnerships to attract private capital for reconstruction.
Reforms to improve business dynamism and productivity by increasing access to domestic finance, mobilizing foreign direct investment, enabling privatization, liberalizing markets, and increasing competition.
Finally, comprehensive reforms of labor regulations, social protection, and pension systems to incentivize more people to enter the labor market while strengthening social cohesion.
I know this sounds like a lot, but these reforms are necessary to accelerate growth and job creation.
It will be challenging for Ukraine to do this alone. Continued international support and partnerships will be essential, particularly by:
Enabling access to markets and increasing foreign investment.
Frontloading financing to make the fiscal adjustment path less steep and mitigate social impacts.
Providing technical assistance and budget support programs, in addition to investment financing, to help Ukraine stay the course on difficult reforms.
Let me close by reaffirming the World Bank Group’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine. Today and into the future. We stand ready to work with partners to support Ukraine in unlocking the drivers of new sources of growth and advancing the reform agenda, including for a new and lasting social contract.
