Ukrainian flag on the parliament in Kiev
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LONDON (German news agency) – The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud-Basso, expects that Russia will pay for the reconstruction of the country after the war in Ukraine. “The state that attacks has to pay for the damage,” Renaud-Basso told the “Welt”.
Russia should also be held responsible for the reconstruction in Ukraine. “I can hardly imagine that the Ukrainians and the West will be willing to pay for the entire reconstruction.” That would be “hardly conveyable”. After the war, a peace treaty could regulate what Russia has to do to compensate for the damage in Ukraine. The EBRD President criticized the circulating estimates of the cost of rebuilding Ukraine. Costs of up to one trillion euros are not realistic. “I have the feeling that the huge numbers are rather paralyzing because they suggest a task that can hardly be mastered,” Renaud-Basso told the “Welt”. “I personally think it’s better to talk about what’s possible.” She assumes that international aid for reconstruction could be of a similar magnitude to the Marshall Plan for Europe after the Second World War. After the Second World War, this led to the USA contributing around four percent of the economic output of the recipient countries. This would equate to approximately $50 billion spread over five years. “That’s a realistic order of magnitude.” The EBRD was founded in 1991 after the fall of the Iron Curtain in order to support the economic development of the transition states in Eastern Europe with cheap loans. Since the Russian invasion, the bank has been heavily involved in Ukraine. In 2022 and 2023, it wants to support investments in Ukraine with around three billion euros. This also includes investments in destroyed infrastructure such as power grids or bridges.
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