Ukraine will need hundreds of billions to rebuild, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday told participants in World Bank/IMF meetings Ukraine needs $7 billion per month to make up for economic losses caused by Russia’s invasion of his country.

He said the global community needed to exclude Russia immediately from international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and others.

Zelenskyy, in remarks made in a virtual address, called for countries that have imposed sanctions and freezes on Russian assets to use that money to help rebuild Ukraine after the war and to pay for losses suffered by other countries.

World Bank President David Malpass said physical damage to Ukraine’s buildings and infrastructure from Russia’s invasion has reached roughly $60 billion and will rise further as the war continues.

The conference on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings included finance officials from a number of countries, including US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who earlier said the United States would double its direct non-military aid pledge to $1 billion.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who attended the conference in person, said Ukraine’s GDP could decline by 30% to 50%, with direct and indirect losses totaling $560 billion so far.

That total is more than three times the size of Ukraine’s economy, at $155.5 billion in 2020, according to World Bank data.

“If we do not stop this war together, the losses will increase dramatically,” Shmyhal said, adding that Ukraine would need a rebuilding plan similar to the post-World War Two Marshall Plan that helped to rebuild a war ravaged Europe.