Ukraine Wins $841 Million World Bank Pension Support as Zelensky Moves to Oust Prosecutor General
Ukraine is set to receive $841 million in World Bank funding under Canadian guarantees to reimburse pension spending, while President Volodymyr Zelensky asks parliament to fire Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who is under investigation and has targeted his own investigator.
Ukraine is trying to keep basic payments flowing and overhaul its justice system at the same time.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says Ukraine will receive $841 million from the World Bank under Canadian guarantees through the PEACE in Ukraine project. The money will reimburse state budget expenditures on pension payments. The government stresses that the support comes amid a significant budget deficit and what it calls a difficult public finance situation.
For millions of pensioners, that transfer underpins monthly income for rent, food and medicine at a time when war has slashed tax revenues and driven up military spending. The World Bank support, backed by Canada, is aimed specifically at covering this core social obligation.
Against that financial backdrop, President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing out the country’s top prosecutor. He has said there is only one path for Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko: dismissal, and has submitted a request to the Verkhovna Rada to remove him from office, asking lawmakers to act without delay.
Kravchenko is already under investigation by anti-corruption agencies in a case known as Operation Carthage. On his way out, he signed criminal charges against National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) director Semen Kryvonos, the official overseeing the probe into him. The charges relate to a disputed adoption from 2009. After signing them, Kravchenko reportedly left Ukraine at 2:30 a.m. in an official car, citing a business trip to Lithuania.
The clash between the prosecutor general and NABU adds to pressure on Ukraine’s institutions just as the country relies on external budget support to meet its commitments. The same day Kyiv highlighted the World Bank–Canada pension package, it was also managing the fallout from a prosecutor general under investigation who moved against his own investigator and then left the country.
Next steps will hinge on how quickly parliament votes on Kravchenko’s dismissal, how anti-corruption bodies handle Operation Carthage, and whether continued flows of external financial support, including the $841 million for pensions, are matched by visible progress in cleaning up Ukraine’s prosecutorial system.
Sources
- OSINT