The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors (WB) on Saturday night decided to provide Ukraine with a $300 million loan for the Second Additional Financing for COVID-19 Response under the Social Safety Nets Modernization Project.

"The social protection measures to be supported by the new loan would help the Government of Ukraine to finance social programs aiming to prevent around 1 million Ukrainians from falling into poverty," the bank's release quoted the words of its regional director for Eastern Europe (Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine) Arup Banerji.

The World Bank's support for Ukraine to protect low-income citizens who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak is a powerful anti-poverty response, he said.

The World Bank reminds that the decision on the first additional financing for the above project in the amount of $150 million was made on April 30 this year.

According to the bank's forecasts, due to the consequences of the pandemic, the poverty level in Ukraine could grow by 4 percentage points, reaching about 23% by the end of 2020.

Its experts report that the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic requires the introduction of prompt emergency response measures in the country and the provision of emergency cash assistance to citizens. It also highlighted the need to strengthen social protection infrastructure and develop systems capable of delivering payments to people in times of crisis.

"The new funds will help finance Ukraine’s COVID-19 social protection emergency response by introducing fast cash transfers to individuals and households who have lost their jobs or income sources because of the pandemic," the message says.

The second additional funding will support the introduction of an online social assistance system and the expansion of social benefits and pensions through direct money transfers to bank accounts. Payments to families with low income will be carried out under the current program of state social assistance to low-income families, the World Bank said.

The World Bank estimates that 60% of Ukrainian citizens who are on the brink of poverty due to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak are not yet recipients of social assistance under one of the existing social protection programs.