World Bank Approves $432 Million DRIVE Project to Ensure Infrastructure Sustainability in Ukraine

On Saturday evening, the World Bank Board of Directors approved a new $432 million support package for the Building Resilient Infrastructure in Vulnerable Environments (DRIVE) project for Ukraine, which is designed to help the Ukrainian government increase the resilience of the national road network and the efficiency of the transport sector.

As the World Bank representatives told the Interfax-Ukraine agency, the DRIVE project complements the ongoing RELINC project, under which Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) received modular road bridges and 200 platform cars to increase its freight and export capabilities.

The World Bank noted that Ukraine’s transport infrastructure has suffered significant damage since the conflict began in February 2022, disrupting key import and export routes. According to the recently published Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4), the greatest damage has been to road infrastructure, with 58 percent of the transport sector; 30 percent of state highways and bridges, 11 percent of local roads and bridges, and 17 percent of municipal roads have suffered severe damage.

The DRIVE project financing includes US$212 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), supported by a credit increase from the Japan-financed ADVANCE Ukraine Fund, US$210 million from the Special Recovery Program for Ukraine and Moldova (SPUR), and US$10 million from the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF).

The State Agency for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine will implement the project.

The official website of the project on the bank's web page describes three key components of the DRIVE initiative, the first of which focuses on maintaining the national road network. This component includes two main subcategories.

The first subcategory, a $270.48 million investment in national roads, will fund the design, implementation, and supervision of construction projects to ensure the proper operational condition of certain segments of the national road network. This includes scheduled maintenance, major road repairs, and major bridge repairs.

The second subcategory, Roads and Transport Reform, allocates $90 million to improve the efficiency of the transport sector through a results-based approach.

The second major component of the $39 million initiative is dedicated to the periodic maintenance of the state road infrastructure. It also includes two subcategories: the installation of emergency modular road bridges and the sustainable preservation of key links in the road network.

The third component focuses on technical assistance and project management and is also divided into two parts: technical assistance and project development (funded by a US$9 million URTF grant), which complements the investment-oriented subcomponents, and project management (a US$1 million URTF grant), which covers eligible costs to support project implementation, training and knowledge sharing.

According to the bank, DRIVE is closely linked to recent and ongoing analytical work and technical assistance provided by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This includes the RDNA4 analysis and upcoming policy papers on road sector financing and road concession development in Ukraine.