International conference on supporting reform in Ukraine slated for March

An international conference to support reform in Ukraine, which will be based on the 2015-2017 Ukrainian stabilization plan, is scheduled for March 2015, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Hennadiy Zubko has said.

Speaking in an interview with zn.ua published on Saturday, Zubko also highlighted the subject of compensation for private facilities damaged in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO). "A resolution enabling compensation for private owners with clearly defined criteria was prepared by the former government, but wasn't passed because of a lack of funds," he said. "Now we're working on a new government resolution with an algorithm of securing funds for compensation and infrastructure rebuilding from local budgets and other sources, including from the EU," he said.

"Talks with Germany are under way. The two countries' governments have already signed a joint statement on the provision by Germany of credit guarantees worth EUR 500 million for rebuilding infrastructure not only in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but also in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions. What is more, an international conference is scheduled for March in support of reform in Ukraine, which will be based on a plan of stabilization in Ukraine for 2015-2017. It also has a section concerning Donbas," he said.

Zubko said that the temporarily occupied territories in Donbas consume electricity worth UAH 90 million every day, while spending on the Ukrainian military is UAH 100 million per day. "What is more, we've got a suspended ATO zone demarcation issue, as the border has been changing amid the advance of Russian troops, and this is really a problem," he said.