Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP  

Reuters: Ukraine targets initial $40 billion for ‘Green Marshall Plan’ 

LONDON (Reuters) -Ukraine is seeking up to $40 billion to fund the first part of a “Green Marshall Plan” to rebuild its economy, including developing a coal-free steel industry, a senior Ukrainian official said ahead of an international summit. 

Politicians and financiers will discuss short-term funding issues as well as look at long-term reconstruction efforts at the two-day meeting, starting in London on Wednesday and co-hosted by Ukraine and Britain. 

It is expected to launch a “war risk” insurance scheme to cover companies that begin investing in Ukraine again and see government officials discuss behind the scenes if and how to use frozen Russian assets to fund some of the rebuild effort. 

The World Bank estimates Ukraine’s reconstruction will cost more than $400 billion, three times the country’s gross domestic product. Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, external backers have poured $59 billion into Ukraine to support it during the war.  

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WNU Editor: I just finished talking to a friend who lives in Odessa. And all that he talked about (besides the war) was how bad the corruption has become in the country. Basically if you want something, be ready to pay a bribe. 

I have zero confidence that the monies for this ‘Green Marshall Plan’, plus an EU financial package of $50 billion that is now being arranged, will go to the people who will rebuild the country. It is going to go somewhere else.