Our projects in Ukraine

The CEB is committed to supporting Ukraine’s reconstruction, recovery and long-term social development, which is one of the three overarching goals of the Bank’s Strategic Framework 2023-2027.

This gradual expansion of activities in Ukraine, developed in close cooperation with the country’s authorities, also aligns with the Heads of State and Government in the Council of Europe’s Reykjavík Declaration in May 2023 urging the Bank to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Health and Social Care

To date, the conflict in Ukraine has caused significant damage to the health sector, severely restricting access to medical services, especially in conflict-affected areas. Given the need for urgent repairs and emergency support to the system, in November 2023 the CEB approved its first loan for Ukraine, worth €100 million, to help restore essential healthcare services, in line with the priorities of the Government of Ukraine.

Beyond addressing urgent health needs in the country, the CEB aims to centre its health sector activities on new and expanding requirements related to mental health and rehabilitation, improving efficiency and quality as well as modernising Ukraine’s healthcare network.

Social and affordable housing

Housing is set to be one of the most daunting challenges facing Ukraine in the coming years, with immense needs for high-quality, long-term housing solutions in the recovery phase. Leveraging its existing experience in post-conflict countries, the CEB is focusing its engagement on social infrastructure and the provision of essential services for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups.

In March 2024, the CEB approved a €100 million loan to partially finance a mechanism established by the Government of Ukraine to compensate the owners of residential properties destroyed by the war. Delivered in coordination with the Ukrainian Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, the project has already facilitated the access of approximately 3,000 households to housing certificates that allow them to purchase residential property.

Due to the destruction caused by the war and the urgent needs of safe accommodation, the CEB approved an additional €100 million loan to the Ukrainian authorities, which will expand the reach of the project to an additional 3,000 beneficiary households.

In May 2025, the CEB and Ukraine signed a €50 million loan agreement to enhance the access of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to housing through more than 1,100 preferential mortgage loans designated for IDP families.

Support to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Ukraine

The €200 million loan approved in November 2024 will support the Government of Ukraine’s programme related to supporting IDPs. The funds will provide living assistance to vulnerable IDPs facing housing, employment and service access challenges, with many unable to return home due to ongoing conflict. The Government of Ukraine currently aids around 1.2 million IDPs through various social assistance and livelihood support systems.

Microfinance

Supporting access to finance for micro-enterprises operating in the extremely challenging environment of Russia's war against Ukraine builds on the CEB’s considerable experience with microfinance in its member countries. The provision of microfinance support contributes to business development, improves access to finance and aids job creation and population stabilisation in local communities, especially those that have been overwhelmed by internally displaced persons from Ukraine’s occupied territories.

The CEB signed a €3 million loan with Bank Lviv at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 in Rome. This financing marks the Bank’s first microfinance operation in Ukraine and will support access to finance for micro-enterprises operating in an extremely challenging environment. Building on the CEB’s considerable experience with microfinance in its member countries, the loan will help alleviate credit constraints for micro-enterprises in Western Ukraine and support job creation in local communities that have been overwhelmed by more than one million internally displaced persons from the eastern parts of the country and the occupied territories.

Grant assistance

Urgent repairs of the hospital building to ensure continuity of the services

In September 2024, the CEB approved a grant of up to €200,000 from its Ukraine Solidarity Fund (USF) for the benefit of the National Centre of Motherhood and Childhood (PAG), the country’s main scientific and operating institution in the field of maternal and child health care.

Home repair to vulnerable conflict-affected households in Ukraine

In July 2023, the CEB approved a €2 million grant in favour of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) from its Ukraine Solidarity Fund (USF) and Migrant and Refugee Fund (MRF), respectively, to finance home repairs – in both apartment buildings and individual houses – of vulnerable conflict-affected households in Ukraine.

Grant-funded technical assistance and capacity building support

In addition to these grant-financed projects, the CEB has provided an €445,000 in technical assistance grants to support its loan-financed projects in social and affordable housing as well as health and social care.

Moreover, in September 2023, an €44,000 grant was provided from the CEB’s Slovak Inclusive Growth Account (SIGA) trust fund to facilitate a capacity building and knowledge exchange study visit for a delegation from the Government of Ukraine to observe the Regional Housing programme, which provided housing support to the most vulnerable in the post-conflict setting of the former Yugoslavia.

Mobilising social investors

In April and June 2022, the CEB issued two social inclusion bonds (SIBs) whose proceeds were used to support Ukrainian refugees hosted by CEB member countries. The Bank first issued a €1 billion seven-year SIB and then a USD1 billion three-year one.

• CEB issues a new social inclusion bond to bolster its response to Ukraine refugee crisis
• CEB’s new USD 1 billion social inclusion bond to benefit Ukraine refugees