Ukraine will require extensive involvement from international financial institutions to rebuild its economy after the war, with total reconstruction costs estimated at around $500bn, the chairman of PrivatBank said, reported Ukraine Business News.

Mikael Björknert, who heads the bank’s supervisory board, said the scale of the challenge meant Ukraine could not rely solely on domestic resources and would need to attract sustained foreign investment and expertise.

“It is extremely important for Ukraine to establish a capital market that offers various products,” Björknert said, emphasising the need for a diversified financial system capable of channelling both domestic and international capital into long-term projects.

He argued that a broader range of financial instruments — from lower-risk savings products to higher-yield investments — would help mobilise household savings and encourage greater participation in the economy. Such diversification, he said, would also make Ukraine more attractive to foreign investors seeking opportunities across different risk profiles.

Ukraine’s financial system has been heavily strained by the war, with much of the banking sector focused on maintaining liquidity and supporting government financing needs. However, Björknert said the next phase would require a shift towards building deeper capital markets to underpin reconstruction efforts.

Integration with the EU will be a key driver of this transformation, he added. Unlike Ukraine, the EU benefits from free movement of capital and a highly developed financial ecosystem offering a wide array of savings and investment products.

Aligning Ukraine’s financial infrastructure with European standards would not only facilitate investment flows but also improve regulatory transparency and investor confidence, analysts say.

Björknert identified three main priorities for Ukraine’s banking sector in the coming years: continuing to support the economy during wartime, mobilising financing for reconstruction, and preparing for deeper integration with European financial markets.

International banks are expected to play a central role in this process, providing funding, risk-sharing mechanisms and technical expertise. Their involvement could also help lower borrowing costs and accelerate the deployment of large-scale infrastructure and industrial projects.

Ukraine has already begun laying the groundwork for post-war recovery, but officials and financial leaders acknowledge that rebuilding efforts on the scale envisioned will require unprecedented coordination between domestic institutions, foreign investors and multilateral lenders.

The estimated $500bn reconstruction bill underscores both the magnitude of the destruction caused by the conflict and the potential opportunities for investment in sectors ranging from infrastructure and energy to manufacturing and technology.

For Kyiv, the challenge will be not only to secure funding, but also to build a financial system capable of deploying it efficiently — a task that Björknert said hinges on creating a robust, diversified and internationally integrated capital market.