The scale of Ukraine's war-torn devastation is so great that reconstruction needs far exceed estimates made after the fighting in Gaza and the war in the Western Balkans. At the same time, some of the funds may come from frozen Russian assets that Ukraine expects to use for reconstruction.
Points of attention
- Ukraine requires over $588 billion for post-war reconstruction, surpassing estimates from conflicts in Gaza and the Western Balkans.
- Frozen Russian assets, estimated at 300 billion, are expected to contribute 50% towards Ukraine's reconstruction efforts.
Post-war reconstruction of Ukraine will cost about $600 billion
First Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine Alena Shkrum stated that the scale of the losses suffered by Ukraine during the war is enormous. The estimated reconstruction needs already reach $588 billion.
This is 33 times more than a similar report by the World Bank after the war in the Western Balkans, and ten times more than all the damage and reconstruction needs after the war in the Gaza Strip.
But the good news is that at least half of this money is frozen Russian assets, 300 billion, which should go towards reconstruction. That's about 25% of Russia's GDP, which also suggests that Russia can, should, and will have to pay for it.
She also drew attention to the scale of the destruction of the housing stock. According to her, Russia has destroyed more than 3 million housing units in Ukraine.
We are talking about private apartments, private houses, dormitories. In total, there are more than 3 million such housing units. And this is more than the entire housing stock, for example, in Denmark. That is, all the existing housing in this country is less than the amount of housing that was destroyed in our country.
She emphasized that due to such a scale, the state is forced to clearly define recovery priorities. This primarily concerns critical infrastructure, logistics, roads, and housing reconstruction.
