A total of 72 schools, 26 pre-schools, 31 medical facilities, and other social infrastructure objects in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts have been or are currently being renovated to ensure decent living conditions for internally displaced people (IDPs) and their host communities. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has allocated more than €120 million to their reconstruction under the Ukraine Early Recovery Programme.

Altogether, there are 168 social infrastructure objects in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts being renovated under the programme. In total, it envisages €200 million for the renovation of 246 local and small-scale municipal and social infrastructure projects in 9 oblasts of Ukraine. The programme is implemented in cooperation with the Government of Ukraine and with grants from the EU, EIB and the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF).

“The real success is that more than 5 million people, including about 700,000 IDPs, have better living conditions after this programme,” said Jean-Erik de Zagon, Head of the EIB Resident Representation for Ukraine, presenting the interim results of the Ukraine Early Recovery Programme on 13 April.

The programme has undertaken major repairs and thermal modernisation in 98 educational facilities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, while 31 healthcare facilities have been renovated or refurbished. The Mariupol and Kramatorsk central libraries and five houses of culture and art centres in different localities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts were also restored. Furthemore, the programme has funded the reconstruction of 15 residential buildings for IDPs, as well as water supply and sewage treatment facilities in Rubizhne, Kramatorsk and Svatove, in addition to a trolleybus route in Sloviansk. Beyond this, 11 administrative and public infrastructure buildings have been reconstructed, including the Bakhmut and Kreminna City Council buildings.

“Ukraine is a priority partner for the European Union. The EU and the European financial institutions have mobilised over €16 billion in grants and long term and low-interest loans to Ukraine since 2014. Our common goal is a reformed Ukraine – democratic, united and prosperous,” said Ambassador Matti Maasikas, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine. “I am also pleased to see that most of the EIB’s funding has been going to health and education – these are long-term investments that are very much worth the effort, especially in the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Given the success of the Ukraine Early Recovery Programme, the EIB and the EU are to provide an additional loan of €340 million. The funds will also be used to finance infrastructure rehabilitation and to improve living and business conditions in conflict-affected regions of eastern Ukraine, as well as and the sustainable development of the country.

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