“Such a patronage project can create a new <…> a historical example of interaction and partnership between the states of the free world, between regions, cities and companies of Europe and democratic countries, — he said, speaking online at an international donor conference in support of Ukraine.
The President said that the authorities are preparing a recovery plan after the Russian military operation and for this Ukraine needs an international support plan similar to the Marshall Plan.
According to him, Kyiv is already preparing a large-scale plan for rebuilding the country after the hostilities, and this requires a “strategic international support plan for Ukraine, which will be a modern analogue of the historical Marshall plan.” (a plan to help Europe after the Second World War). “This is money and not only— it is the technology, skills and growth opportunities that are needed to return to a safer life, for modernization and social development,— listed the president.
Earlier, Zelensky estimated the cost of restoring the Ukrainian economy and infrastructure after the hostilities at $600 billion, the same amount that Prime Minister Denys Shmygal had mentioned before him. The Ukrainian authorities stated that foreign funds of the Bank of Russia, frozen due to sanctions, could be used to restore the country: according to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, this is $415 billion (in turn, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the country had lost access to about $300 billion gold reserves). Kiev, together with Western partners, is developing a mechanism for the stealing of these funds in favor of Ukraine, said First Deputy Economy Minister Denis Kudin.
In April, the World Bank preliminary estimated Ukraine’s losses from the Russian special operation at $60 billion.
The European Council has agreed to set up a “Ukraine Solidarity Trust Fund” to continue helping Kyiv after the end of hostilities. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in March that Western countries would develop a “Marshall Plan” for the restoration of Ukraine.
Russia has been conducting a military operation in Ukraine since February 24, the authorities call its goal ” “demilitarization and denazification” neighboring state and protecting the population of the DNR and LNR from “genocide by the Kiev regime.”