The estimated cost of fully or partially restoring Ukraine’s residential infrastructure exceeds $83.7 billion, with the largest share of needs concentrated in multi-apartment housing.
This was reported by Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development Nataliia Kozlovska during the second meeting of the Recovery Operational Group, according to the Ministry for Communities Development.
“The housing sector is one of the most affected by the full-scale invasion. The total damage to the housing sector amounts to approximately $56.5 billion. To successfully restore it, Ukraine will need about $83.7 billion over the next 10 years,” Kozlovska stated.
According to her, several housing recovery initiatives are already underway. These include the state compensation program for repairing damaged homes, compensation for purchasing housing to replace destroyed property under the “eVidnovlennia” program, capital restoration of apartment buildings, social housing projects, preferential mortgage programs for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and cooperation with the Energy Efficiency Fund.
As a result of Russia’s military aggression, millions of Ukrainians have either lost their homes or no longer have access to them, and over 4.6 million have become internally displaced. One of the tools to support them is a preferential mortgage program for employed IDPs. This long-term mortgage scheme offers a 3% annual interest rate with a 6% down payment, allowing working IDPs to purchase their own homes under affordable conditions.
However, for such tools to work effectively, Ukraine’s housing policy requires a complete overhaul.
“A comprehensive housing policy reform is one of the reforms included in the Ukraine Facility Plan, and we are closely coordinating with the European Commission on this path,” Kozlovska emphasized.
As previously reported, the Recovery Operational Group was launched under the Ukrainian Donor Platform as a coordination format to address urgent recovery needs between the Ukrainian government, sectoral working groups, special envoys for recovery, and platform members.
The first such meeting was held in February of this year, focusing on protecting the energy system and heat supply in the regions, modernizing and optimizing water infrastructure, and restoring water supply and sanitation systems in southern Ukraine. Future group meetings will address transportation and social infrastructure.
