Ukraine has a reputation for corruption. The EU will have to work hard to reassure donors that their money will not be wasted
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskUkraine’s allies have promised cash to keep the country running during the war, and to rebuild it afterwards “to help a new Ukraine rise from the ashes of war”, says Paolo Gentiloni, the’s economy commissioner. An accurate estimate of the total cost is impossible, but guesses are in the range of $200bn-500bn and rising. One question is where to get the money.
The prospect of paying for reconstruction dwarfs more immediate issues, such as keeping Ukraine’s government solvent. “If we see that…there is no discussion of how to share the cost, then we are concerned,” says an Italian official. Thecould borrow the money collectively, as it did for its covid-recovery splurge. This idea has support among cash-strapped members.
Then there is the question of who spends the money, and on what. The European Commission has proposed a “Rebuild Ukraine” platform that it would supervise alongside the Ukrainian government. It would co-ordinate aid from the, the World Bank and the. Ukraine would take the lead in drawing up a reconstruction plan: it has already formed working groups of domestic stakeholders and international donors.should have a leading role, not least because Ukraine aims to join the club.
Such decentralisation risks duplication. The scramble for funds, both by Ukrainians and foreign contractors, will be fierce. It could also make it harder for anti-fraud agencies to spot corruption. Ukraine has the worst score in Europe on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, apart from Russia. It has improved since protests toppled a crooked government in 2014, instituting a transparent public procurement system and an independent anti-corruption investigator.
One way to reassure donors would be to work with foreign contractors experienced in big infrastructure projects, says Natalie Jaresko, a Ukrainian-American who was Ukraine’s finance minister in 2014-16. Another might be to establish a court with foreign judges to adjudicate disputes linked to reconstruction. Bringing private-sector investment to a war-racked country with a reputation for corruption will take some doing. Yet the flowering of Ukrainian patriotism during the war will help.
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