Washington, May 23 (IANS): The World Bank has announced the approval of $1.5 billion for three new projects in Ukraine to help the crisis-hit country carry out critical reforms and build infrastructure, media reported Friday.
The financing of the three projects, with approval of the World Bank Board, is part of the bank's overall assistance to Ukraine which was announced in March to provide the country up to $3.5 billion by the end of 2014, Xinhua reported.
"The Ukrainian authorities have developed a comprehensive programme of reforms, which they are committed to undertake with support from the World Bank Group," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.
"We are stepping up our assistance to Ukraine because we want to help improve the lives of people in the country and to achieve economic recovery at a crucial time. The country's leaders are determined to improve public services and back much-needed reforms, and we are determined to help them."
The Bank will also offer $382 million to support improvements in heating energy efficiency and another $350 million to fund upgrades of water and solid waste services.
The new investments bring the World Bank's current lending portfolio to Ukraine to $3.39 billion.