Case study: Ukraine
Reconstruction while the war continues. Germany's development ministry has supported Ukraine since 2022. In June 2026 the minister travelled with Chancellor Merz to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk.
RDNA5 is the joint assessment by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank Group, the European Commission and the UN. The previous assessment (RDNA4, February 2025) put needs at US$524 billion.
War damage and recovery
Infrastructure
Attacks on power plants and grids have made energy the most urgent reconstruction sector. Germany has contributed to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund and, according to the Federal Government, announced further contributions and the delivery of combined heat and power plants at Gdańsk.
Economic recovery & private sector
Public money alone cannot meet the needs. The EU's Ukraine Investment Framework (about €9.3 billion within the €50 billion Ukraine Facility) aims to mobilise up to €40 billion. Germany's proposal in 2026 was a European Flagship Fund with Poland, Italy and France.
Municipalities & people
The BMZ reports 180 new municipal partnerships between German and Ukrainian towns (as of June 2025), support for some 860 hospitals and clinics, and skills training for internally displaced people.
European cooperation & donor coordination
The annual Ukraine Recovery Conferences (Rome 2025, Gdańsk 2026) are the main forum where governments, development banks and companies coordinate pledges.
Reform
Recovery support is tied to Ukraine's reform and EU accession agenda, including the rule of law, anti-corruption and public finance.
Four kinds of support
Reports on reconstruction often merge very different things. This table keeps them apart for the German contribution.
Announced
- European Flagship Fund with Poland, Italy and France: “a first public package of up to €220 million” to mobilise private capital
- A financing initiative for machinery and spare parts
- Further contributions to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund
Committed
- About €2.5 billion in BMZ support since February 2022, as reported by the ministry (October 2026)
- The precise share newly committed at Gdańsk was not published in the sources reviewed
Implemented
- Skills Alliance for Ukraine: 725,000 people trained since 2024 (BMZ)
- About 860 hospitals and clinics supported
- 180 new municipal partnerships (June 2025)
Future plans
- Implementation of the Flagship Fund
- Delivery of combined heat and power plants
- Conference follow-up: about 200 documents were reported signed by all participants combined (secondary reporting)
Die Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 sendet ein klares Signal: Wir investieren gemeinsam in den Wiederaufbau, in Reformen, Widerstandskraft und in die Zukunft der Ukraine.“The Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 sends a clear signal: together we are investing in reconstruction, in reforms, in resilience and in Ukraine's future.” (translation)
Why this is a development task
Humanitarian aid keeps people alive in war. Recovery, meaning restoring hospitals, heating, schools, jobs and municipal services, is the work of development cooperation, and it starts before a ceasefire. She visited Kyiv, Bucha and Hostomel on 30 October 2025. In the Bundestag she spoke on Ukraine in the debate on the Berlin Ukraine summit on 18 December 2025.
How much private capital the Flagship Fund will actually mobilise, how reconstruction money is protected against corruption, and how support is sustained as Germany's development budget shrinks. These questions are unresolved and are noted here as such.
- UNDP, RDNA5 press release: undp.org; World Bank, RDNA4: worldbank.org
- Federal Government, URC 2026: bundesregierung.de
- BMZ, URC 2026: bmz.de; BMZ, Ukraine country page: bmz.de; BMZ, Kyiv visit: bmz.de
- European Commission, Ukraine Investment Framework: ec.europa.eu