Ukraine has called for frozen Russian assets to be used to rebuild the country’s war-ravaged economy after a report showed the cost of reconstruction increasing to almost $500bn.
In their third assessment of the likely price tag for recovery and reconstruction after Russia’s invasion two years ago, the World Bank, Ukraine’s government, the European Commission and the UN said the war had caused the economy to shrink by more than 25% and had been a “dramatic setback” to Ukraine’s development.
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said: “The needs or reconstruction have continued to grow over the past year. The main resource for Ukraine’s recovery should be the confiscation of Russian assets frozen in the west. We need to start this process already this year.”
An estimated $300bn of Russian assets have been frozen since the war started in February 2022.