£413bn – the staggering cost of rebuilding Ukraine after Russia's brutal invasion
It will cost an astonishing £413 billion to rebuild Ukraine’s economy after Russia's invasion, according to new estimates by the World Bank, United Nations, European Commission and the Ukrainian government.
The new figure - which roughly equates to the GDP of Austria - is a 7% increase over last year’s estimates, and amounts to three times Ukraine’s economic output last year.
The new study has calculated the direct physical damage to buildings and other infrastructure, the impact on people's lives and livelihoods and the cost to "build back better”.
Russia’s brutal invasion has destroyed some 2.5 million homes - about 13% of Ukraine’s total housing - and this needs to be replaced,
But urgent investment will also be needed to rebuild the transport, energy, commerce and education sectors.
US President Donald Trump is pushing to end the war through separate talks with Russia and Ukraine, telling reporters during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron that a deal could be reached in weeks.
"In the past year, Ukraine's recovery needs have continued to grow due to Russia's ongoing attacks," said Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Ukraine's government has allocated £5.82 billion to address priority needs for 2025, with support from donors, but still has a financing gap of nearly £8 billion.
The latest study cited a 70% increase in damaged or destroyed assets in the energy sector since the last assessment one year ago, including power generation, transmission, distribution infrastructure and district heating.
The housing sector accounted for about £66 billion of the total long-term needs, followed by transport with almost £61 billion, energy and mining with almost £54 billion, commerce and industry with over £51 billion, and agriculture with over £43 billion.
The cost of debris clearance and management alone was pegged at almost £10 billion.
It leaves the International community facing a staggering bill which is more 120 times higher than the UN's 2025 budget of £3 billion.
So far, the total amount of restructuring aid pledged by the global community amounts to less than £100 billion - including a UK pledge of £3 billion by the UK.
Ukraine has long been arguing to use frozen Russian assets, which amount to around £170 billion.
"We understand the fears of our partners, but Russia's criminal actions are so unprecedented that fundamentally new, courageous decisions are needed Russia's assets should work for Ukraine ,” said President Shmyhal.
He added that allowing the frozen assets return to Russia "would mean the defeat of the free world and maximum injustice to Ukraine: Russia will use these resources for new wars and our country will be in ruins.”
However, while the annual £2.4 billion interest from confiscated Russian central bank funds is being used to underwrite loans to Ukraine, there are fears that breaking international law to seize the capital could destabilise the dollar and the euro by scaring away international investors.
Daily Express
