Russia's full-scale war has caused Ukraine enormous expenses. The cost of financing defense is high, and so is the price of dealing with the consequences of the invasion. Millions of dollars from international partners and money from the government and local administrations are directed toward rebuilding the country. Yet Ukraine's government still lacks a unified system with verified information on recovery spending, making it challenging for the public to monitor how these funds are used. The Center for Fiscal Policy Studies, a Ukrainian non-governmental think tank, tackled this problem by creating the Cost of War project -- a portal with verified data on recovery expenditures at different levels. Rubryka learned how the portal works, how it is filled with data, and who can benefit from it.
In recent years, the full-scale invasion has defined Ukraine's economic situation. A significant share of funds goes toward security and defense. According to the Center for Economic Strategy, in 2024, Ukraine spent ₴2.8 trillion (about $67.77 billion) on the war -- 36.4% of GDP. Overall, more than half of all state-controlled funds last year went to ensuring defense capability.
At the same time, Ukraine needs large amounts of financing to address the consequences of war, particularly to find funding for reconstruction. According to estimates from the World Bank Group, the European Commission, and the UN, by the end of 2024, the cost of rebuilding and recovery in Ukraine over the next decade will reach $524 billion.
Last year alone, more than ₴17 billion (about $412 million) were spent on reconstruction and recovery through budget programs of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development. Another billion came from programs financed by international financial organizations (IFIs).
Money like this makes public oversight of spending essential. The Ukrainian government does not have a single portal collecting all recovery-related data. The Ministry for Communities and Territories Development, the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, regional administrations, and others have their own reports, but these datasets aren't combined in one place.
What adds to the issue is that sometimes official reports on spending don't match the information published on E-Data, the Ukrainian government's open-data platform for public finances. This calls for verification. For example, data on a certain payment for reconstruction may never appear on E-Data, leaving the public without transparency on how money was used.
In 2023, the Center for Fiscal Policy Studies, an organization that analyzes public finances, launched the Cost of War project. Its goal is to create a single database of verified information on spending related to the war and recovery efforts.
"We started with collecting and verifying what we consider the most important data -- funding for recovery. To show which facilities are being rebuilt, who gets the funding, how many projects are financed, and so on. Recovery is now the main focus because that's where demand is greatest and where the largest amounts of money go," says Viktor Maziarchuk, head of the Center for Fiscal Policy Studies, in a comment to Rubryka.
Today, on the center's website in the Cost of War section, you can find verified data on actual recovery spending from the central authorities (Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression), local administration budgets, and international partners for 2022-2024.
You can also view general information about spending on security and defense, though without details or verification. Maziarchuk explains that the center doesn't work with "sensitive" information.
First, go to the portal. On the main page, you'll see six categories: Fund of Liquidation, Local Budgets, Kyiv Region, Partners' Funding, International Partners, and Security and Defense. All categories except the last two contain detailed, verified data on reconstruction spending in their areas:
When you choose one of these categories, an interactive map of Ukraine opens along with charts showing analytics on reconstruction projects and filters for searching. Filters allow you to select the year, the funding source (state, local, or international partners), the type of object (housing, water supply, healthcare, etc.), the budget program under which the object is being rebuilt, or even the tax ID of the fund recipient or payer. The filters are synchronized with the map and charts.
The charts under the map visualize data on reconstruction spending for the chosen period, broken down by object category, and display the biggest recipients and contractors.
The map shows spending on reconstruction objects at the national, regional, district, community, or even settlement level. Funded objects are marked with dots, the size of which reflects the amount spent. Clicking on an object reveals its address, the amount allocated, and the contractor and recipient of funds.
The map is synchronized with the charts, so when you select a particular city, community, or region, the graphics update to display relevant funding data.
The Center for Fiscal Policy Studies works exclusively with open data to populate the Cost of War database.
First, the team gathers daily payment data for reconstruction projects from E-Data, the public finance open-data platform. Then they summarize these amounts and compare them with Treasury reports.
If the totals don't match the official reports, the center files requests with the spending authorities to find out why.
According to the center's leader, Viktor Maziarchuk, there are two most common reasons for discrepancies. The first is when a spending authority pays a contractor for reconstruction work, but the payment record never appears on E-Data. The second is when money is paid as an advance for work that was either not carried out or only partially completed. The funds are returned in those cases, but the refund payment also doesn't appear on E-Data.
"So the primary source we work with is the payment orders from the institutions paying for reconstruction. If something doesn't match, we reach out to those institutions asking them to explain the discrepancy and provide copies of payment orders to confirm that the explanation is correct," Maziarchuk explains.
The two primary services the center relies on are E-Data and Prozorro, Ukraine's public electronic procurement system. The first contains payment orders, budget program passports, and reports, while the second provides detailed information on public procurement.
Maziarchuk adds that all data collection and analysis were initially done manually. Today, about 70-75% of the process is automated. Even so, a share of the work remains manual, and a person always does final data verification.
Maziarchuk compares filling the portal to assembling a puzzle. Step by step, the team adds new information on expenditures from state and local budgets and partner funds.
This process isn't all-encompassing or instant -- gathering and analyzing data takes time and workforce. That's why the center focuses on specific aspects of reconstruction monitoring rather than trying to track all public finances related to the war and its consequences.
For example, when it comes to the government's recovery money, the center only verifies spending from the Fund for Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression. This fund covers several budget programs that the center analyzes. However, it does not track spending on critical infrastructure recovery, security, or defense. Here are detailed statistics on this fund's expenditures for 2023-2024, along with notes on limitations.
Overall, the portal contains recovery spending data for 2022-2024. Depending on the category, you can access different time periods. Currently, the Cost of War project has the following data:
"It's like a puzzle: we finish one piece and move to the next, then the next. Our job is to keep adding new data. Unfortunately, it's not that fast. For example, we finished analyzing the fund for elimination for 2024. We gathered the data, cross-checked it with reports, spotted discrepancies, and sent requests for clarification. Responses take about 30 days. Meanwhile, we start collecting local budget data," Maziarchuk explains.
According to him, the center has already filed requests to verify local budget spending for 2024, so those figures will appear on the portal in at least a month and a half.
The Center is also preparing procurement data for reconstruction projects financed by the governmental fund. Previously, the team worked only with payment records. These new procurement data are currently undergoing final verification before publication.
Viktor Maziarchuk says the project's most important audience is the media. The center tracks only the financing of reconstruction projects, not the work completed. That means journalists can use the portal to identify specific projects and then check the real situation on the ground.
For example, journalists from Bihus.info used the Cost of War interactive map in one of their investigations to compare reconstruction spending in a village in the Kherson region with spending in Borodianka, Kyiv region.
Maziarchuk also presents the project at journalism trainings, showing reporters how to use the tool in their work.
He adds that the portal is also valuable for students. For example, students at the Kyiv School of Economics and the Ukrainian Catholic University collaborate with the center and use the data in group and individual projects.
Government agencies are another group of stakeholders who benefit from the Cost of War database. The center has already sent data to the Accounting Chamber on the use of European Investment Bank funds and to the State Audit Service on reconstruction in the Kyiv region. From now on, Maziarchuk says, all databases the center compiles will also be sent to these two agencies and all anti-corruption state bodies.