Ukraine's finance minister on the eve of Davos Forum recalls idea of creating financial-coordination platform

KYIV. Jan 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Large economies and international financial institutions need to find new tools to help Ukraine, which continues suffering from the full-scale war unleashed by Russia, a new financial-coordination platform could be the solution, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on the eve of the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"With Ukraine as a co-chair, the platform could develop effective and sustainable mechanisms to coordinate financial support for Ukraine, as well as a valuable model for other nations to use in the future," he wrote in an op-ed in Time.

Marchenko recalled that, learning from the experience of military aid coordination at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, such a financial-coordination platform was proposed to be created by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in the middle of October 2021 at the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank.

"The idea of developing this platform is to bring G-7 member countries and international financial institutions to the table on a regular basis—to facilitate information sharing on key developments and projections, as well as ensure timely and efficient channeling of the financial assistance from various donors. This kind of cooperation will help to make disbursement more efficient," the Ukrainian minister said.

Initially, it was assumed that such a platform would be created before the end of 2022, but this has not yet happened.

Marchenko said that in 2023 the state budget deficit of Ukraine will reach $38 billion compared to $50 billion in 2021, of which international financial assistance covered about $31 billion and economic losses will keep growing in 2023.

"The support of international partners will play a crucial role in how we get through the 2023 budget year. We welcome the U.S. intention to continue providing grants to Ukraine, as well as the European Commission’s proposal to launch a new full-scale macro-financial assistance program for Ukraine in 2023. But as the war drags on, this is not enough," Marchenko said.

He said that Russia’s war doesn’t just affect Ukraine’s economy. Many countries are facing the highest inflation in decades, huge energy costs, and threats of recession.

"Food security and an energy crisis will bring many more deaths and more suffering around the world. We must work more closely toward a solution for us all," the Ukrainian finance minister urged.