Today in Kyiv, Administrator Samantha Power announced that the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, will work with Congress to provide an additional $230 million to support Ukraine’s economy and reconstruction, by bolstering private sector productivity, job creation, and exports.
As a result of Russia’s full-scale military invasion, Ukraine’s economy contracted by an estimated 31 percent in 2022 and faced significant unemployment challenges. With this funding, USAID will provide technical assistance to Ukrainian businesses to help scale their operations, meet EU regulations to export more of their products and services into Europe, and ultimately create jobs for more Ukrainians. USAID will also work with financial institutions to offer grants and technical assistance to provide the financing these businesses need to grow and build Ukraine’s future.
USAID will also advance a strong, diverse, and open Ukrainian economy by strengthening the business support ecosystem and helping small, medium, and large Ukrainian enterprises become more competitive and sustainable. Small businesses are the primary source of economic activity and employment in Ukraine. USAID will support workforce development, including training, aimed at providing approximately 100,000 new jobs which will contribute to bolstering the economy and increasing public revenue, which can help reduce the need for external assistance.
This new funding reaffirms the United States’ commitment to the people of Ukraine. Since Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the United States, through USAID, has provided more than $23 billion in humanitarian, economic, and development assistance to Ukraine.