Ukraine estimates business losses from Russian attacks could reach $10 billion

Business losses from Russian attacks on Ukraine could reach $10 billion this year, prompting the government to plan a new insurance fund to help companies recover from war-related damage, Economy and Environment Minister Oleksandr Kravchenko said.

“According to our estimates, business losses from attacks this year could reach $10 billion. This is an unprecedented scale,” Kravchenko said at a meeting with journalists, according to Hromadske.

The minister said existing state support programmes, including compensation schemes and preferential lending under the 5-7-9% programme, were insufficient to meet the needs of all businesses. While such measures support small and medium-sized enterprises, they do not adequately cover larger companies, he said.

The government plans to expand its existing support programmes this year, although Kravchenko warned that limited public finances could constrain the response.

“We are trying to respond to the challenges. But, unfortunately, we are limited in fiscal resources,” he said.

The Economy Ministry is also preparing a dedicated insurance fund to help businesses withstand and recover from damage caused by Russian attacks. Under the proposed mechanism, the fund would cover “first losses”, with companies eligible to receive up to $10 million per group of companies.

The government is considering ways to finance the fund, with a possible increase in value-added tax among the options under discussion.