Almost four months have passed since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The war is not yet over, but in some areas reconstruction has already begun. In kyiv, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, recognizes that, for lack of resources, this cannot be fast, but that the country is trying to deal with the most urgent, despite the risk of further destruction.
How extensive is the destruction in Ukraine today?
It is estimated that between 20% and 30% of the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed: roads, bridges, ports, railways, airports… As of May 25, the total amount of direct damage caused to the Ukrainian economy by the destruction of residential and non-residential buildings (schools, hospitals, etc.) and infrastructure amounted to $105.5 billion [100,4 milliards d’euros], including 40 billion dollars due to the destruction of transport.
Cities like Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk were the most affected by the destruction of the housing stock. Some 320,000 people have already reported losing their homes, but many more are expected. In Mariupol, for example, everything is destroyed. In total, over 44 million square meters of housing has been damaged, destroyed or seized as a result of the war.
Ukraine’s overall economic losses, taking into account both direct and indirect losses (decline in gross domestic product, stoppage of investments, labor flight, additional spending on defense and social assistance , etc.) are between $564 billion and $600 billion, according to estimates by the Ministry of Economy and the Kyiv School of Economics.
Many Ukrainians whose homes have been destroyed complain that they have not yet received the promised aid…
A special law has been established to ensure that 100% coverage of losses. We will do it, but it will depend on how long the war lasts. We have started to assess the damage. Unfortunately, the government has very limited financial resources at the moment, which are concentrated on the war effort – buying ammunition, weapons – and the payment of social assistance.
Our economy was largely based on exports. After the start of the invasion, these dropped by 30% to 40%, due in particular to the blocking of ports. Six of them have been attacked multiple times, with significant consequences. This prevents us from financing by ourselves the reconstruction of the liberated cities and the war effort. On this last point, we nevertheless have the support of the United States, the European Union [UE], from Canada and the United Kingdom.
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