By KYIV. Oct 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The World Bank announced the allocation of $550 million, which will help more than 90,000 farmers in Ukraine attract preferential loans and grants for agricultural production.
“The Ukraine Agriculture Recovery Inclusive Support Emergency (ARISE) Project will provide access to affordable finance for agricultural producers in 2023 and 2024. The project will help mobilize about $1.5 billion in working capital for farmers and provide grants to small farms for agricultural production. It will also complement the World Bank’s support for agriculture in Ukraine, which is designed to accelerate private investments in agriculture and strengthen partial credit guarantees for small farmers,” the World Bank said on its website.
“The funding for the ARISE project consists of a $230 million World Bank loan, backed by a credit enhancement from the Advancing Needed Credit Enhancement for Ukraine (ADVANCE Ukraine) Trust Fund, supported by the government of Japan, and a $320 million grant from the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Multi-Donor Trust Fund (URTF). The innovative project design allows for additional funding of up to $150 million as further World Bank and donor support materializes,” it said.
“The ARISE Project will help thousands of Ukrainian farms, including many small ones, to continue producing in what are certain to be extremely challenging conditions in the months ahead,” said Antonella Bassani, World Bank Regional Vice President for Europe and Central Asia.
“The cost of Russia’s invasion on the agriculture sector is estimated to be $40.2 billion, a number that has likely increased since the last damage and needs assessment was released in February 2023.This figure excludes the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnances on agricultural land, as well damages to irrigation, agri-logistics, and food processing facilities,” the bank said.
“The ARISE project will be implemented by Ukraine’s Business Development Fund and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. It is the fifth World Bank project approved for Ukraine this year through an innovative and flexible framework model that is designed to quickly get mobilized partner resources to where funding is needed most, and which can be scaled up as necessary when additional financing becomes available,” the report reads.
“Over the next year, the World Bank and the Government of Ukraine will continue focusing on investments and critical reforms in priority sectors including energy, health, social protection, education, housing, and agriculture,” it states.
