OREANDA-NEWS. The head of the World Bank, David Malpass, announced during a speech at the Warsaw School of Economics that the organization was ready to transfer $1.5 billion to help Ukraine, TASS reports.

“This was facilitated by yesterday's approval by donor and recipient countries <...> of aid in the amount of $1 billion for Ukraine and $100 million for Moldova. The World Bank was created in 1944 to help Europe recover from World War II. As we did then, we will be ready to help Ukraine rebuild when the time comes,” he said.

Earlier, the World Bank published a report on the economy of the Europe and Central Asia region, which predicts that the gross domestic product of Ukraine in 2022 will decrease by 45.1%.

“Ukraine’s economy is expected to shrink by about 45.1% this year,” the report says.

It is also noted that the extent of the reduction will depend on the duration and intensity of the conflict.

“Ukraine needs immediate significant financial support as it struggles to maintain its economy and the government works to support Ukrainian citizens who are suffering and coping with the extreme situation,” said Anna Bjerde, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia.

The economy of the entire region, according to the report, will shrink by 4.1% compared to the forecast that was made before the start of the special operation. The document says that the economic shocks from the current situation "exacerbate the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."

“This will be the second reduction in the past few years and twice as large as the reduction caused by the pandemic in 2020,” the report says.

The World Bank also spoke about the forecast, according to which the Russian economy, “hit by unprecedented sanctions” from Western countries, will shrink by 11.2% in 2022.