WB announces $454 mln in support for Ukrainian healthcare sector reform

MOSCOW. Dec 10 (Interfax) - The World Bank on Tuesday announced a new $454 million support package for Transforming Healthcare through Reform and Investments in Efficiency (THRIVE) project in Ukraine, Ukrainian media said with reference to the bank's statement.

It quoted Robert Saum, the World Bank Country Director for Eastern Europe, as saying that the reforms supported by the THRIVE project would help reduce unnecessary financial burdens on patients, while enhancing the accessibility and resilience of the healthcare sector.

Financing for the THRIVE program includes loans totaling $449 million from the Japan-supported ADVANCE Ukraine Trust Fund and the World Bank, as well as a $5 million grant from the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Reform Trust Fund (URTF).

The World Bank's other ongoing projects include emergency operations for health, education, transport, energy, housing, agriculture, government programs for the private sector and public administration, which have mobilized donor partner resources through a flexible design to disburse funds quickly and can be scaled as necessary when additional financing becomes available, it said.