The Ukraine Early Recovery Programme (UERP) and the Ukraine Recovery Programme (URP), funded at 200 million and 340 million euros respectively, are two loan agreements between the EIB and Ukraine, inked in 2014 and 2020 respectively. These agreements, bolstered by EU grants, aim to enable local authorities to revitalize social infrastructure, thereby elevating the living standards of internally displaced persons and their host communities.

EIB has supported Ukraine with 2 billion euros since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.

As of March 2024, UERP has completed 97 projects, encompassing educational facilities, healthcare centers, and social housing units, with an additional 66 projects slated for implementation between 2024-2025. URP has initiated its inaugural project by constructing an educational facility in Vinnytsia oblast, marking a significant step towards launching 155 more social infrastructure endeavors throughout 2024-2025.

The 161 million euros allocation sets the stage for Ukrainian cities to advance their reconstruction endeavors, encompassing:

• Initiating the aforementioned 155 projects as part of URP, with the commencement of an educational project in Vinnytsia, where construction is already underway on-site.
• Undertaking 66 projects under UERP.

Planned for execution in 2024-2025, these initiatives aim to refurbish social infrastructure such as hospitals, housing, schools, water, and waste facilities in liberated territories and areas proximate to the conflict zone, spanning the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia.

The Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine collaborates with the Ministry of Finance to oversee the programs, while local government bodies assume full management of the reconstruction projects. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine offers technical assistance for the initiative, guaranteeing the projects' effective and efficient execution.

“Supporting Ukraine is a top priority for the EIB. Despite daily missile strikes, civilians killed and injured, massive displacements, the Ukrainians remain determined to return to their lives pre-war. And EIB remains determined to support them. In a partnership with the Government of Ukraine and the European Commission, we have developed the recovery programmes -said Teresa Czerwińska, EIB Vice-President responsible for operations in Ukraine- a well-functioning mechanism, that channels our funds to the communities of Ukraine that have suffered from the war and offers them the possibility to reconstruct hospitals, schools, kindergartens, housing, water facilities. In other words, it offers them the possibility to re-establish vital social services. We stand ready to develop this support further.”