Exclusive A letter from the Ukrainian government to the participants of the Multi-Donor Coordination Platform is part of systematic work with partners.
A high-ranking source familiar with the situation told Ukrinform about this, commenting on a report in Bloomberg.
According to the agency’s interlocutor, “a letter from the Ukrainian government was sent to the participants of the Multi-Donor Coordination Platform after budget support was identified as the main direction of the platform’s work for 2024 during a platform meeting on December 19. This is part of systematic work with partners.
According to Bloomberg, in a letter to the key coordination group that controls the funds, Prime Minister Denis Shmigal noted that the funding should be directed to the needs of Ukraine's main budget.
“To support macroeconomic stability, it is imperative that we receive sufficient, prompt and expected external financing starting in January 2024,” Szmigal said in the letter seen by Bloomberg News.
The Prime Minister said the MDCP, created by G7 leaders in December 2022 to coordinate international funding, should focus on immediate budgetary needs.
The head of government suggested that donors hold a meeting in January ahead of a planned meeting next month, Bloomberg writes.
Szmigal also called on donors to begin coordinating to direct frozen Russian assets to the reconstruction of Ukraine. The Kremlin “must pay for war and destruction – and this will be the main source of recovery” in the coming years, he wrote in the letter.
“We will make all necessary efforts to eliminate the funding gap, but your timely support is needed now more than ever,” the head of the Ukrainian government emphasized.
In the letter, Shmigal noted that he replaced Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov as co-chairman of the MDCP with Minister of Finance Sergei Marchenko. Kubrakov confirmed the decision in a Dec. 20 statement on social media platform X, saying he would remain as deputy prime minister and focus on infrastructure.
“The work of this Platform is still far from complete,” Kubrakov said.
At the same time, Bloomberg recalls that in December 2023, US lawmakers stopped attempts to reach an agreement on financing Ukraine in the amount of more than $60 billion before going on holiday breaks.
A €50 billion EU package for Ukraine was blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban this month, with debate continuing early next year.
The MDCP steering committee includes senior officials from the G-7, the EU and Ukraine. The co-chairs represent the United States, the European Commission and the government in Kyiv.