Economy

The Cabinet of Ministers allocates UAH 150 million for the return of Ukrainian refugees from abroad

The Cabinet of Ministers has allocated UAH 150 million from the state budget to the Ministry of National Unity for a program aimed at facilitating the return of Ukrainian refugees from abroad. This was announced by the government’s representative in the Verkhovna Rada Taras Melnychuk, Komersant ukrainskyi reports

“The budget allocations provided for the Ministry of Economy for 2025 in the general fund of the state budget under the program “Ensuring the implementation of tasks and measures to support Ukrainians abroad and facilitate their return to Ukraine” in the amount of UAH 150 million 28.7 thousand have been transferred to the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine for a new budget program,” Melnychuk said.

As a reminder, in December 2024, the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine was renamed the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine.

It was headed by former Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov.

The goal of the ministry is to unite Ukrainians abroad, protect citizens, and facilitate their return home.

Main powers of the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine

The Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine (MNU) is a government agency responsible for formulating and implementing policies in the area of national unity, support for Ukrainians abroad, and strategic communications. Its main powers include:

Policy of national unity and joint development

• Ensuring the formation and implementation of state policy to strengthen the national unity of Ukraine.
• Development of Ukrainian national identity.
• Formation of the information policy of national unity and strategic communications within its powers.

Supporting Ukrainians abroad and their return

• Implementation of a policy to ensure the rights and interests of persons who have left abroad, including due to armed conflict.
• Creating conditions for their voluntary return to their place of residence or integration in a new place in Ukraine.

Coordination with foreign policy agencies

• Cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet the national, cultural, educational and language needs of Ukrainians abroad.

Support for Ukrainian national identity

• Promotion of Ukrainian national and civic identity.

How many Ukrainians are there abroad?

In September, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that about 7.5 million Ukrainians live abroad (without specifying whether all of them left because of the full-scale invasion).

Pavlo Grod, head of the World Congress of Ukrainians, says his organization unites 25 million Ukrainians in more than 80 countries. Mariana Betsa, who deals with global Ukrainians at the Foreign Ministry, says that 15 to 25 million ethnic Ukrainians currently live outside Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently developing a strategy for the state’s interaction with the global Ukrainian community. In particular, it will define a new generalized term “Ukrainian global community.”

Olha Aivazovska says that there are currently more than 6 million Ukrainians abroad for non-tourist purposes (internally displaced persons, labor migrants, students).

In general, according to official data from the State Border Guard Service, about 3 million citizens have not returned during the 3 years of full-scale war. This is almost as many as in the 11 years preceding the full-scale invasion, i.e. from 2011 to 2021, when 3.3 million Ukrainian citizens left the country.

It is worth noting that the data from the Border Guard Service of Ukraine only covers citizens who left at official checkpoints. There is currently no reliable data on Ukrainians who left the temporarily occupied territories or left illegally.

According to official EU data, as of August 31, 2024, 4.2 million Ukrainians had temporary protection status in the EU. 60% of the total number of our refugees were sheltered in Germany (1.1 million), Poland (975 thousand) and the Czech Republic (376 thousand).