UKRAINE JOINS THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE DEVELOPMENT BANK: THE PRESIDENT SIGNED THE LAW
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Law No. 3114-IX of 29.05.2023 on the adoption of the Articles of Agreement of the Council of Europe Development Bank and accession to the Third Protocol to the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe.
The document is aimed at Ukraine's membership in the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB).
After gaining membership in the bank with the support of a powerful European institution that has many years of experience in financing social housing programs for displaced persons, our country will be able to more systematically and effectively solve the housing problem of families who have been deprived of a roof over their heads by Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.
Today, on June 9, Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov took part in the Joint Meeting of the Board and the Administrative Council of the Council of Europe Development Bank.
Oleksandr Kubrakov spoke about the priority plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and the process of Ukraine's membership in the Bank was discussed.
Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhii Marchenko took part in the meeting online, and the Joint Meeting of the Bank's Governing Bodies in Athens was attended by Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe Borys Tarasiuk.
It should be noted that the State Agency for Housing and Urban Development has been advocating the need to join the CEB since 2018. After the accession procedures are completed, Ukrainians will receive new European-level housing and infrastructure programs with a significant social component.
The CEB is the oldest European multilateral development bank, and its projects are exclusively socially oriented. The Bank was established in 1956 to address the reintegration of refugees, displaced persons and migrants. The Bank's members are 40 member states of the Council of Europe, the Holy See, and Kosovo.
The CEB's special social mandate allows it to provide loans to member states on terms significantly more favorable than market rates. As a non-profit institution, the bank applies a limited margin to its loans and does not charge fees, which significantly reduces the cost of loans to finance social projects.
The bank's priority region is Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. In 2021, 57 projects totaling EUR 4.2 billion were implemented mainly in the countries of this region, and in 2020 – 56 projects totaling EUR 6 billion).