European partners allocate €100 mln for Ukrainian civilians with destroyed housing
The reconstruction of the destroyed building on Bahirova Street in Irpin, Kyiv region, continues. Photo: Mykola Tymchenko/Rubryka
Ukraine is set to receive €100 million from the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) to help the war-battered country fund housing for civilians who lost their homes because of war.
According to the Ministry of Finance, a new project is called "HOME. Compensation for Destroyed Property," Rubryka reports.
What's the problem?
Each Russian mass attack on Ukraine causes more destruction and damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure facilities. The Kyiv School of Economics reported that as of January 2024, Ukraine recorded almost 250,000 damaged and destroyed buildings, with 222,000 being private houses, over 27,000 apartment buildings, and 526 dormitories.
"The housing sector remains one of the most affected by the war — the overall losses are estimated at nearly $50 billion," said Deputy Finance Minister Olha Zykova. "The effective implementation of the HOME project will help the government provide necessary assistance to citizens whose homes have been destroyed or damaged due to hostilities."
What's the solution?
The CEB represented a new project called "HOME. Compensation for Destroyed Property," providing Ukraine with a €100 million loan. The bank supported and approved the project following discussions at the administrative council meeting.
"This is the second Ukrainian project that the bank has submitted for approval to its Administrative Council in less than a year since Ukraine joined the CEB, indicating trust in Ukraine as a partner," said Minister Zykova. "Ukraine continues to actively work on implementing joint projects with the bank and aims to deepen bilateral cooperation further. We are confident that strong teamwork will contribute to achieving our common long-term political and economic goals."
How does it work?
According to the Ukrainian finance department, the funding will support the direct aid procedure, through which citizens, including combatants, people with disabilities, and large families, will receive compensation for their destroyed homes in the form of housing certificates.
The ministry stressed that the project would be implemented across Ukraine, with payments for over 2,000 housing certificates, allowing around 5,700 Ukrainians to receive compensation for destroyed housing.
"The new project for Ukraine will allow citizens who have received compensation for destroyed homes to return to their normal lives as quickly as possible," said Zykova.
Compensation will be provided through Ukraine's "eRecovery" service, allowing citizens to submit requests and receive corresponding compensation certificates for damaged property. After automated verification, the application for the certificate will be processed and approved by a special State Compensation Commission. Applicants can track the entire application process using the "Diia" government mobile app.
Ukraine's Ministry of Community Development, Territories, and Infrastructure will monitor the use of the bank's loan through the State Register of Property Damaged and Destroyed as a Result of Hostilities, tracking detailed data on submitted applications and the number of applications by region, namely their quantity, work completion percentage and submission dynamics, the total amount of issued and used certificates, the number of applications with positive decisions, type of property for which the application was submitted, and availability of privileges for applicants.
In June 2023, Ukraine completed the accession process and became the 43rd member country of the Council of Europe Development Bank.
Compensations under the eRecovery program have exceeded UAH 2 billion: a thousand Ukrainian families have already used housing certificates to purchase new housing.
