Over 3,000 Polish companies have so far applied to participate in the post-war reconstruction effort in Ukraine, the government commissioner for the project has said.
Paweł Kowal told the national press agency, PAP, there is high interest in the energy sector as well as in training. He also said the medical sector had attracted many applications, especially from companies involved in prosthetics and other war-related health needs.
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“They are not always big firms, but very agile and efficient ones, and they need project financing,” Kowal said.
Poland is expected to become an important player in Ukraine’s reconstruction after the UN announced the establishment of a UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Warsaw to support the private sector in the project, with a subsidiary office in the southeastern city of Rzeszów.
Rzeszów, which lies about 100 km from the Ukrainian border, is already acting as a logistics hub for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and is foreseen as a major peacetime hub for rebuilding projects.
“We're ready," Kowal said. "I assume the deadlines will be met and we'll be hosting UNOPS by the end of the year, but also that we'll start training for businesses so that they are ready to file specific applications for specific orders."
The World Bank said in February that as of the end of 2023, the costs of Ukraine’s reconstruction would run to $486 billion over the next decade.
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A World Bank report said that since the start of the war, in February 2022, until December 31, 2023, “direct damage in Ukraine has now reached almost $152 billion, with housing, transport, commerce and industry, energy, and agriculture as the most affected sectors.”
The report also said that over the same period 10% of the national housing stock had been damaged or destroyed.
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