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WASHINGTON, November 6, 2020 The World Banks Board of Executive Directors approved today a $100 million project to support the Government of Ukraines efforts to promote socioeconomic recovery and development of Eastern Ukraine, where the continuing conflict has impacted the lives and livelihoods of over five million Ukrainians. The Eastern Ukraine: Reconnect, Recover, Revitalize (3R) project will focus on Government-Controlled Areas (GCAs) of Luhansk Oblast, which have experienced the most severe economic downturn due to conflict, bringing in much-needed investments to improve transport connectivity and promote agricultural sector recovery.

Working in rural areas of Luhansk Oblast GCAs, the 3R project will improve road infrastructure and connectivity to markets and services, and help promote agricultural development and economic growth in rural areas. The project also includes community participatory approaches to ensure that conflict-affected and vulnerable populations, such as women, veterans, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), participate in project decision-making processes and monitoring.

This is the first loan in the World Banks portfolio, targeted to help the Government of Ukraine deliver on its commitment to outreach and development support for conflict-affected populations. The 3R project builds on the World Banks national portfolio of investments and sector knowledge in transport, agriculture, and land reform, extending this support to Eastern Ukraine. Thousands of people in conflict-affected communities will benefit from 3R project investments, said Arup Banerji, World Bank Regional Country Director for Eastern Europe (Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine).

The project will develop an implementation support platform, including national-regional-local government collaboration in delivering on 3R project investments, and strong engagement of local communities. The project will also support public-private investment forums to raise awareness and promote investment opportunities in the region. These activities promote sustainability and possible future scale-up and expansion of World Bank investments to additional sectors and geographic areas in Eastern Ukraine.

Since 2014, the World Bank has been a partner to the Government of Ukraine in addressing the development impacts of the conflict. Along with the UN and the EU, the World Bank initiated its engagement as the co-author of the Recovery and Peacebuilding Assessment for Eastern Ukraine (RPBA) that was adopted by the Government of Ukraine in August 2015.

Based on RPBA results, the Bank launched the Conflict Response and Recovery Pilot and Capacity Building project ($3.6 million), financed by the Fragile, Conflict and Violence groups State- and Peace-building Fund and designed a World-Bank Administered Multi-Partner Trust Fund on Peacebuilding and Recovery ($2.07 million) in partnership with the Government of Ukraine, the United Nations, and the Governments of Sweden and Canada. The financing has supported analytics, technical assistance and capacity building support to a new national Ministry focused on reintegration and recovery efforts, and pilot programming in Eastern Ukraine to address the needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), veterans, and host communities. These prior activities provided a foundation for advancing the 3R Project.

The World Banks current investment project portfolio in Ukraine amounts to about $2.8 billion in nine ongoing investment projects. The investments support improving basic public services that directly benefit ordinary people in areas such as water supply, sanitation, heating, power, energy efficiency, roads, social protection and healthcare, as well as private sector development. Since Ukraine joined the World Bank in 1992, the Banks commitments to the country have totaled approximately $13 billion in about 70 projects and programs.

About the World Bank Group

The World Bank Group (WBG) is one of the worlds largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Banks private sector arm; the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world. For more information, please visit http://www.worldbank.org, http://www.miga.org, and http://www.ifc.org.

PRESS RELEASE NO: 2021/ECA/38

Contacts

Washington

Sona Panajyanspanajyan@worldbank.org

Kyiv

Dmytro Derkatchdderkatch@worldbank.org

Viktor Zablotskyivzablotskyi@worldbank.org

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New World Bank Project to Help with Economic Recovery and Development of Eastern Ukraine - Ukraine - ReliefWeb

Carl Vikingsson, President and CEO at Sigma Technology Group, has been appointed the first Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Western and Southern Sweden.

After years of fruitful cooperation with Ukraine, Carl Vikingsson, President and CEO at Sigma Technology Group, becomes the first Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Western and Southern Sweden, to continue developing cooperation between the countries, the press service of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Sweden informs.

The Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Gothenburg, Sweden, will fulfill the consular functions in consular districts Vstra Gtaland, Skne, Halland, Jnkping, Kronoberg, and Blekinge Counties.

The establishment of the Honorary Consulate of Ukraine in Gothenburg headed by Carl Vikingsson opens new possibilities to help our two countries grow together and shows further dedication of Sigma Group to support business ties with Ukraine. Sigma Technologys office in Gothenburg will become a space for collaboration on consular affairs and for discussion of ways to make Sweden and Ukraine even closer, the statement reads.

Olena Polunina, Charg d'Affaires a.i., Embassy of Ukraine in Sweden, congratulated Vikingsson on the appointment, saying that his valuable knowledge and practical experience in cooperation with Ukraine as well as heartfelt love to the country is a ground base for further successful work.

In turn, Vikingsson said he would continue to contribute to the development of cooperation between the two countries.

During our cooperation with the Ukrainian team, we have succeeded in building an ecosystem that promotes close relationships between Sigma Group companies, tech universities, and clients. Ukrainians are eager to develop and innovate, they are result-oriented and dedicated partners, which is important for the success of the business. Im determined to continue our endeavors in fostering the startup and entrepreneurship in Ukraine and creating the basis for a prolific partnership on both sides, Carl Vikingsson said.

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Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Western and Southern Sweden appointed - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

The official HSK Zrinjski Supporters Club declined to comment for this story or help BIRN approach any Zrinjski Ultras.

The only Ultra who agreed to speak was Vlado Savic, one of the original founders of the Supporters Club. Zrinjski means everything to me, he said.

Savic blamed the far-right graffiti that has scarred Mostar on outsiders.

The guys in charge of graffiti have nothing to do with that, he said. People come from elsewhere and intentionally do that to defame us, make us look bad.

But in his home, where he was under house arrest after being convicted of armed robbery, BIRN saw a photo of Savic and another man making what appears to be a Nazi salute. Similar photos on Facebook show Savic making the same salute. He denied it was a Nazi salute, saying it was simply a gesture Zrinjski supporters make when they sing the club song.

In the neighbourhood around Savics home, not far from the supporters club, far-right hate symbols are hard to miss, from the Celtic cross, a signature of the Zrinjski fans, to 14/88, swastikas and phrases declaring that the fascist WWII-era Independent State of Croatia, NDH, will come again.

The hate graffiti also adorns Mostars Partisan Cemetery, where Communist partisans who fought the Nazis during WWII are buried.

Every February 14, visitors to the cemetery mark the anniversary of the towns liberation from fascism in 1945. In 2015, on the 70th anniversary, they were met with projectiles and insults hurled by a group of what one participant in the commemoration, Stefica Galic, described as neo-Nazis.

Authorities at the time said three people had been arrested, but that has not stopped such incidents from repeating every year, said Galic.

They stand over the road, waiting, she told BIRN. Zrinjski supporters have some premises across the road from the Partisan Cemetery and they were already waiting there.

The local interior ministry said those involved in the intimidation had been identified and prosecuted, but did not identify them when asked to do so by BIRN.

Michael Colborne contributed to this article from Kyiv, Ukraine.

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In Bosnian River Town, Far-Right Symbols and a Link to Ukraine - Balkan Insight

The results of an audit of the Ukrainian economy and the vectors of economic development drafted by the government should become the basis for the creation of Ukraine's National Economic Strategy until 2030, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

He said this in his speech at the presentation of the country's economic audit in Kyiv on Friday, November 6, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Based on the audit and vectors, we are waiting for the appearance of the National Economic Strategy until 2030. I know that the government has already begun to work actively on this, involving many experts, business representatives, the public, international analysts, and scientists," Zelensky said.

According to him, the strategy should be a master plan and a roadmap for all branches of government in Ukraine, rather than a non-binding declaration.

Zelensky stressed that the strategy should also be widely approved by citizens and be a kind of "economic Constitution of Ukraine, our great national idea."

"It's time to end the practice when public policy is determined by surnames on the doors of government offices, rather than by common values. With every new president, parliament or government, the country begins to invent a new breakthrough. It's time for a new tradition: the surnames of civil servants can and will change, but the vision, philosophy and the global goal of the country are unchanged," he said.

He noted that the audit of the Ukrainian economy is the result of hard and painstaking work. Zelensky recalled that a comprehensive analysis of the state of Ukraine had been made for the first time "to understand exactly what mistakes were made during these years, and where."

"The audit is an analysis of our complexes that frightened us and restrained our movement forward. All of them must be a thing of the past," he added.

He also said that based on the results of the audit, the government would present the main vectors of development of the Ukrainian economy until 2030, which will help clearly understand "where and why Ukraine's economy will move."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on November 4 that Ukraine's economic breakthrough was an ambitious goal for the government. He also said that for the rapid recovery of the Ukrainian economy, the government had developed a vision of the economic development of the country until 2030. Shmyhal stressed that according to the government's forecasts, the Ukrainian economy will begin to recover from 2021 thanks to public investment and business support.

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Zelensky waiting for 'economic Constitution of Ukraine' - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

Kyiv (ICRC) - The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer completed his five-day visit to Ukraine today. Mr Maurer met the president of Ukraine as well as government and parliament officials and talked to the representatives of the non-government-controlled territories. He also visited either sides of the contact line in the Donbas region, where the ceasefire is holding since late July this year.

The discussions have been focused on the cumulative consequences of the six-year conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic on people and communities on both sides of the contact line in the Donbas.

Mr Maurer addressed the issue of people missing in connection with the conflict and establishment of the Commission on Missing Persons, access to water and health services as well as perspectives on the risks for the population of mines and other unexploded ordinance. The ICRC president has been also seeking for prospects for securing the systematic and unhindered access of the ICRC to all detainees held in connection with the conflict in the Donbas. Furthermore, he reiterated the need for mechanisms to allow safe passage of civilians with urgent humanitarian needs across the line of contact during COVID-19 pandemic.

Water, electricity and gas installations have always been particularly vulnerable in the conflict and the ICRC has been investing many resources in maintaining the water supply systems. Mr Maurer visited one of the filtrations stations of the Voda Donbasa company that supplies water to people living on both sides of the contact line in the Donetsk Region. The ICRC has so far invested over 15.5 million CHF in maintaining and servicing both water supply companies in the Donbas.

The ICRC president also visited construction sites of health facilities on both sides of the contact line. He saw Gorlovka ambulatory and laid the foundation stone to the first Emergency Health Care Department in Ukraine that the ICRC is building in the Bakhmut hospital, which will serve 200,000 people. The ICRC is investing 3.5 million CHF in building the department, equipping it and training its staff.

Support to people caught in the Donbas conflict is ICRC's 8th largest operation in the world. This has been Mr Maurer's third visit to Ukraine as ICRC president. The first took place in February 2015 and the second in March 2017.

For further information, please contact:

Sanela Bajrambasic, ICRC Ukraine Communication Coordinator, +380 95 262 80 49, https://twitter.com/sbsanelab1

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Ukraine: Addressing the cumulative effects of conflict and COVID-19 in the Donbas - Ukraine - ReliefWeb