World Bank Approves New Strategy

The World Bank’s Council of Directors has approved a new Country Assistance Strategy for Ukraine for 2004-2007. Its main goal is to support Ukraine’s European course. Within its framework, Ukraine is to concentrate on sustainable economic growth, reducing poverty, strengthening the middle class, comprehensive and harmonic human development, gradual integration into the world economic and financial systems, reduction of regional imbalances, along with the improvement of the transparency, accountability, and integrity of government. Head of the World Bank office in Kyiv Dusan Vujovic stated that assistance will be rendered to Ukraine in various sectors. In the past, he said, there were certain problems in implementing investment projects. The World Bank expects that in the future credit resources will be used more effectively. The volume of assistance will be, as before, strictly connected with the government’s ability to reach specific criteria. The financial aid to Ukraine will further be given in the form of program system loans. The maximum amount of financing in four years could reach $3 billion according to the most optimistic scenario. The basic scenario will bring Ukraine $2.4 billion. Of course, the pessimistic one is quite undesirable: in case of a return to macroeconomic instability and deviation from the policy of reforms, loans could be very limited. In Mr. Vujovic’s words, granting Ukraine a Program System Loan-2 will be considered at the World Bank’s Council of Directors meeting December 9, reports Petro IZHYK, The Day.