The World Bank has released an Emergency Financial Package for Ukraine
The World Bank has approved U.S $ 723 million (£ 551 million) in loans and grants for the war-torn Ukraine, who is fighting hard to defend its sovereignty form the invading Russian troops.
Of this, U.S. $ 100 million are from United Kingdom (U.K.) and U.S. $ 34 million from Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Iceland. It includes U.S. $ 350 million loan, augmented by about U.S. $ 139 million through guarantees from the Netherlands and Sweden. In addition, Japan has also given an aid of U.S. $ 100 million.
The funds would be used to provide critical services, including wages for hospital workers, pensions for the elderly and social programmes for the vulnerable. The World Bank is also working on another U.S $ 3 billion package for coming months. It has also promised financial aid for neighbouring countries that are taking in more than 1.7 million refugees.
The official twitter handle of World Bank tweeted,
.@WorldBank Group mobilizes +$700m in emergency financing to support Ukraine. The funds will help ensure critical services to people continue despite the Russian invasion. https://t.co/nhifkL6TVG pic.twitter.com/oxCCqCQSdN
— World Bank (@WorldBank) March 8, 2022
Thanking World Bank, the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted,
I am grateful to President of @WorldBank Group @DavidMalpassWBG for his strong support of Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression. #StopRussia https://t.co/PoB1WXEMFH
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 8, 2022
Besides, the Mayor of the Kyiv suburb of Irpin – Oleksandr Markushyn has refused the demand of Russian troops to surrender the town despite receiving life threats.
Speaking on the occasion, Markushyn said, “I’m surprised that these monsters still haven’t understood — Irpin doesn’t give up, Irpin can’t be bought, Irpin fights!”.
He further said, “I have a counter-offer to the occupiers to leave [the] Irpin community within 24 hours and save the lives and health of several thousand Russian conscripts, whose mother, sister, daughter, grandmother and partner are waiting for them at home.”
In other developments, the U.K. has warned Poland to not to send fighter jets to Ukraine as it will put them into the “direct line of fire” from Russia. This comes a day after the United States (U.S.) Ambassador to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – Julianne Smith said that U.S. officials are discussing that Poland could send MiG-29 Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to an evacuation corridor for fleeing civilians from the North-Eastern city of Sumy to Poltava, a city in central Ukraine. It will open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time today. The announcement came after a Russian airstrike killed 21 civilians on an apartment building in Sumy. As a result of the bombing, one house was completely destroyed and 16 were partially destroyed.
Russia has warned that if the West places a ban on Russian oil, it will close its main gas pipeline to Germany. The Deputy Prime Minister of Russia – Alexander Novak said that a rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market, causing prices to more than double to U.S. $ 300 a barrel. The European Union (E.U.) gets about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, which is difficult to replace.
