Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko held a meeting in Washington with the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Maktar Diop. Together with her government team, she presented a list of priority investment projects in energy, transport, and logistics. However, behind the diplomatic formulation of an "investment wish list" stand quite concrete deadlines and debts.
Two addressees — two different problems
In the case of Naftogaz, the discussion concerns the restoration of damaged gas production facilities and the purchase of equipment. In parallel, the government agreed with the U.S. Export-Import Bank on a financing mechanism for purchasing American energy equipment worth 300 million dollars. For comparison: during this heating season, Naftogaz has already imported a record 900 million cubic meters of American LNG — the first such volume in the company's history.
The situation with Ukrzaliznytsia is more time-sensitive. According to Svyrydenko, the IFC reviewed "possible financial support to stabilize the company's financial condition, including ensuring the repayment of eurobonds in July 2026." Over 300 locomotives of Ukrzaliznytsia have been damaged or destroyed as a result of Russian attacks — restoration of rolling stock is also on the list of requests.
"In Washington, we speak with partners in the language of concrete projects."
Yulia Svyrydenko, Telegram
IFC and state companies: why this is non-standard
The IFC is a division of the World Bank Group whose mandate is the private sector. Financing state enterprises such as Naftogaz or Ukrzaliznytsia is an exception for the institution, not the rule. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the IFC has invested approximately 2.8 billion dollars in support for Ukraine's private sector. Involving state companies in this window is a separate negotiation track that requires non-standard guarantee schemes.
A precedent already exists: in 2025, the European Investment Bank signed agreements for the first time with Naftogaz (300 million euros) and Ukrhydroenergo (120 million euros) without sovereign guarantees — instead, European Commission guarantees were used. This is apparently the model Kyiv wants to replicate with the IFC.
Broader context of the visit
The meeting with Diop is just one episode of Svyrydenko's Washington tour. She also held talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to whom she conveyed Kyiv's position: sanctions against Russia should not be weakened. According to the Prime Minister in Reuters, "Bessent supports Ukraine." The conditions of the IMF loan for 8 billion dollars were discussed separately — the fund's mission is expected to arrive in Kyiv in May.
Svyrydenko also named a condition for accelerating investments:
"The key condition for attracting investments remains the de-shadowing of the economy and the continuation of reforms."
Yulia Svyrydenko
What's next
The question is not whether the IFC supports Ukraine in words — it does. The question is whether an institution with a private mandate will agree to structure deals with state companies without sovereign guarantees from the Ukrainian side — and whether it will manage to do so before July 2026, when Ukrzaliznytsia must repay its eurobonds.
