Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear attendees,
Dear friends!
Thank you for such attention to Ukraine!
These days, our state has become the target of another blatant terrorist attack by Russia. More than a hundred Russian cruise missiles and fifty combat drones in less than two days against our civilian infrastructure and energy facilities. And that's just one attack. An attack that purposefully affected or damaged about a third of the Ukrainian energy industry.
But the full-scale war against our country has been ongoing for more than 230 days, and the man who appropriated Russia is not going to end this war. He will spend tens and tens of billions of dollars more and approve many more attacks until we force Russia to make peace - with or without him.
Our cooperation brings this moment closer - brings the victory of Ukraine closer.
The more help Ukraine receives now, the faster the Russian war will end and the more reliably we will guarantee that such a cruel war will never spread to other countries again.
I really appreciate that you all understand this! Thanks for all the support!
I am thankful to the United States of America, President Biden, Congress for their special support. 8.5 billion dollars are aimed at fulfilling our social obligations - payment of salaries, pensions, support of the social sphere of Ukraine.
I am thankful to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for their leadership at the institutional level in the implementation of aid programs for Ukraine.
I am thankful to the European Union and all our partners who contributed to the stabilization of Ukraine's financial situation.
You all see that Ukraine is strong enough to endure this war. However, it is necessary to maintain consistency in the support of our state and develop the existing lines of aid.
Each specific step in support of Ukraine is a real reduction of Russian aggression. I want to offer you three more such steps now.
First, I believe that it would be useful to create a coordination format for financial support of Ukraine similar to the one created in Ramstein for defense support.
Mrs. Kristalina Georgieva and I discussed the importance of donor coordination. We should create a permanent working group that would deal with the financial support of Ukraine and work efficiently at different levels - at the level of international donors and at the level of countries participating in aid.
The second is to reliably cover the deficit and ensure the basics of people's lives. We see that Russian terrorist attacks may be intensified. Therefore, we must symmetrically intensify cooperation for assistance - both for the restoration of the destroyed and for guaranteeing the financial stability of our state.
You know the data - this year, Russian terror led to the decline of the Ukrainian economy by more than a third. Similarly, the real income of our people decreased by a third. Thousands of enterprises and infrastructure facilities were destroyed. Millions of people became internally displaced.
As of now, we have two key state financial needs. This is 38 billion dollars to cover the state budget deficit next year. These are the salaries of teachers, doctors, social benefits, and pensions. This is a guarantee of life for the Ukrainian people.
Another 17 billion dollars, which are verified by the World Bank and are needed for the reconstruction of critical infrastructure within the RDNA. These are schools, hospitals, critical transport and energy infrastructure, as well as damaged housing. In fact, everything that has become a primary target for Russia.
We need targeted loans of 2 billion dollars to rebuild the electricity infrastructure after the destruction and to expand exports to Europe.
Also, taking into account the crisis situation created by Russia on the entire continent, we need credit limits for the purchase of gas and coal for the next heating season. The volume of this level of support is at least 5 billion dollars. We might not have to use these limits, but they should be there to ensure stability.
In this context of countering the deficit and guaranteeing stability, the new program of cooperation with the International Monetary Fund is critically important. The realistic volume is up to 20 billion dollars. We must finally approve such a program as the main source of covering the deficit.
And the third thing I would like to offer you today is concrete investment support tools for Ukraine. In order to activate the economy and for businesses to start investing in Ukraine now, a military risk insurance mechanism for new investment projects is needed.
I hope we can launch this mechanism together with the World Bank.
Another element of protection of economic activity can be the opening by partner countries of the limits of export-import agencies for the supply of equipment to Ukraine. This is what can strengthen your companies right now - in cooperation with us.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Right now, when the terrorist state is trying to intimidate us all even more, we must respond to Russian terror with even stronger and meaningful cooperation. This is real protection. Our common protection - of our common democracy, our way of life.
Terror must lose. Ukraine must win. This is absolutely real - with your support.
Again, I am grateful to everyone who helps!
Glory to Ukraine!