Damage in Ukraine reached unimaginable numbers?

Speaking at the World Bank conference on financial assistance to Ukraine, Mr. Malpass said that early estimates of the cost of “limited” damage mentioned above do not include economic losses during the crisis in Ukraine. Ukraine.

In an online speech at the event, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky outlined much greater costs and financial needs, and said that Ukraine needs $7 billion a month to make up for the economic damage caused by Russian military campaign.

“We’re going to need hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild it all later,” Zelensky said. He said that the global community should immediately remove Russia from international financial institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others, and called on countries to sever all ties. with Russia.

Zelensky also called on countries that have imposed sanctions and frozen Russian assets to use that money to help rebuild Ukraine after the conflict and pay for the losses suffered by other countries.

The President of Ukraine said that Ukraine needs 7 billion USD per month to compensate for the economic damage caused by the Russian military campaign. Photo: Reuters

Also at the event, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Russia should be responsible for some of the costs of reconstruction in Ukraine. Yellen emphasized: “It is clear that the cost of rebuilding in Ukraine will be very large. I think we should pursue asking Russia in one way or another to help provide what is necessary for Ukraine to build. rebuild”.

In addition, Yellen also warned that using Russia’s central bank reserves confiscated in the US to rebuild Ukraine would be an “important step” requiring discussions and agreements with partners. international cooperation.

According to Reuters, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who directly attended the conference, said Ukraine’s GDP could fall by 30% to 50%, with total direct and indirect losses amounting to $560 billion so far. That is more than three times the size of Ukraine’s economy, at $155.5 billion in 2020, according to World Bank data.

“If we don’t come together to stop this war, the losses will increase dramatically,” Mr. According to the Ukrainian prime minister, Ukraine will need a rebuilding plan similar to the post-World War II Marshall Plan, which helped rebuild a war-torn Europe.