How Have Foreigners Helped Ukraine’s Economy?

What You Need To Know:

✅ “Our task is to make sure that Ukraine gets the most out of this assistance, that the projects are targeted – not supply driven, but demand driven and that Ukraine gets something out of this;“
✅ Currently, there is a commitment of over 1 billion US dollars in grants and nine billion US dollars in loans;
✅ The Ukrainian government needs to have institutions that play their role in regulating foreign aid;
✅ “Official assistance should be like public funds and there should be a criminal penalty for misusing these funds.”

For the past 15 months, Olena Tregub, Foreign Aid Coordinator at The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, has been managing official developmental assistance coming into Ukraine through foreign governments and international organizations. “Our task is to make sure that Ukraine gets the most out of this assistance, that the projects are targeted -- not supply driven, but demand driven and that Ukraine gets something out of this,“ she says. Currently, there is a commitment of over 1 billion US dollars in grants and nine billion US dollars in loans.

Tregub says she has zero tolerance for corruption, however it is hard to control all levels of government. As a reformer, when taking on the role of foreign aid coordinator, she knew what she wanted to do but needed time to learn how to do it in Ukraine: “It took me some time to learn the system, to become creative and knowledgeable about how to crack this system,” she says.

Having learned that the system is bureaucratic, inefficient and corrupt, Tregub says that her office is responsible for coordinating the funds, and that the Ukrainian government needs to have institutions that play their role in regulating international aid. “Official assistance should be like public funds and there should be a criminal penalty for misusing these funds.”

Hromadske’s Andriy Kulykov and Guest Host Marta Dyczok spoke to Olena Tregub, Foreign Aid Coordinator at The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine during The Sunday Show on August 10th 2016 in Kyiv.