On 25 March, the 16th meeting of the Steering Committee of the Ukraine Donor Platform was held in Kyiv. The Platform was established to coordinate international assistance and address Ukraine’s urgent needs and support its long-term recovery.
The Platform brings together 25 permanent and temporary members and observers, as well as 7 participants, including international financial institutions and the OECD.
During the meeting, Government representatives discussed with partners the provision of predictable and sustainable budget support for Ukraine, energy resilience, the implementation of reforms and the European integration process, recovery needs, and preparations for the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2026).
For the first time, participants also held a separate discussion devoted to Ukraine’s social recovery, focusing on how international partners can help address labour market challenges, strengthen social services, and support veterans and communities most affected by the war.
The event was attended by Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko; Co-Chair of the Platform for Ukraine, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhii Marchenko; Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine – Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksii Kuleba; Director-General of the Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST) Gert Jan Koopman of the European Commission; Acting Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia at the U.S. Department of State Kirsten Selinger; Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Oleksii Sobolev; Minister of Social Policy, Family, and Unity of Ukraine Denys Uliutin; Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine Nataliia Kalmykova; as well as more than 100 representatives of the Platform’s participating countries, the European Commission, and international financial institutions.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko opened the meeting and presented to partners the key priorities for strengthening resilience and recovery: “Number one is energy. Given the serious challenges the state faces under wartime conditions, as well as the extensive financing needs across various sectors, the Government of Ukraine is counting on substantial support from international partners in financing plans to ensure the energy resilience of the regions during the coming heating seasons.”
“Even amid the challenges to our survival, Ukraine continues to move steadily and actively along its European integration path. We are working to close all negotiating clusters already this year. In line with the EU’s key principles, reforms, and the rule of law, we will meet all requirements necessary to open the clusters and continue accession negotiations in 2026,” Yuliia Svyrydenko stressed.
During the meeting, Platform Co-Chair and Minister of Finance Serhii Marchenko thanked partners for their support: “In 2025, Ukraine received USD 52.4 billion in direct budget support. These funds made it possible to fully cover key social and humanitarian expenditures. I sincerely thank all partners for the effective cooperation that helped preserve the state’s financial stability. In 2026, the state budget remains under pressure from significant defence and recovery expenditures. We have already made progress in mobilising the necessary resources. In the first months of 2026, USD 5.5 billion was raised, including through the ERA mechanism and with the support of the IMF, the World Bank, and Japan.”
In his remarks, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine – Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksii Kuleba emphasised: “Russia tests our resilience every day by striking civilian infrastructure and logistics. But the question is no longer whether there will be another attack — the question is whether we are ready for any scenario. We have already moved from response to systemic resilience: we are shaping solutions from the bottom up, integrating them into the national framework, and investing in protection, distributed generation, and backup systems. Ukraine is holding on and rebuilding even under attack. Together with our partners, we are capable not only of enduring, but also of building a stronger and more resilient country.”
Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Oleksii Sobolev noted: “By the end of 2027, Ukraine must complete the key reforms required for accession to the EU. We are already making progress: we have completed more than half of the steps under the Ukraine Plan for the Ukraine Facility. Our priority is the fight against corruption. We are also systematically introducing corporate governance at state-owned enterprises: supervisory boards have already been appointed through open competitions at Energoatom and Naftogaz. In parallel, judicial reform is continuing, approaches to public finance and investment management are being updated, and a new Labour Code has been developed.”
Minister of Social Policy, Family, and Unity of Ukraine Denys Uliutin stressed: “Social recovery should be regarded not as a parallel track, but as a key component of Ukraine’s overall recovery strategy. We are now moving towards an approach in which social policy is not expenditure, but an investment in human capital. This means shifting from status-based support to needs-based support, from separate payments to comprehensive support packages focused on services, as well as investing in early identification and prevention of vulnerability.”
Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine Nataliia Kalmykova noted: “It is important for us, already today, to jointly build effective and integrated support systems capable of responding to the real challenges that veterans, both men and women, will face on a large scale. That is why reintegration is not only about support, but also about creating the conditions for a full return to civilian life through employment, development, and participation in community life. Since veterans policy is the responsibility of the entire state, it requires consolidated efforts both at the national level and in partnership with international donors.”
As part of the Steering Committee meeting, a separate session was also held with the Business Advisory Council, focusing on mobilising private capital for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, along with a working meeting with leaders of major Ukrainian companies. International partners also held a discussion with representatives of civil society dedicated to the social aspects of Ukraine’s recovery.
The next meeting of the Steering Committee will take place on the margins of URC 2026 in June in Gdańsk.
More information is available via the link on the Platform’s website.
Background
The Platform’s Steering Committee consists of senior officials from Ukraine, the G7 countries, and the European Union. International financial institutions and organisations also take part in Steering Committee meetings as active participants.
The permanent members are Ukraine and the G7 countries (Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union). There are currently six temporary members: Denmark, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Sweden. Ten countries hold observer status: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Iceland, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Finland, and Switzerland.
The event was held with the support of the Platform Secretariat. The Recovery and Reform Delivery Office of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine performs the functions of the Kyiv Office of the Secretariat of the Ukraine Donor Platform.
* The Kyiv Office of the Platform Secretariat is funded by the European Union under the programme administered by Ukraine’s Recovery and Reform Architecture (URA) and implemented by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
