The World Bank announced today a new $50 million project to repair and restore Ukraine's transport network to support immediate humanitarian relief and recovery, and increase capacity of import and export corridors.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to have devastating economic and humanitarian consequences. Ukraine needs urgent investments to repair damaged essential transport routes," Vice President for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank Anna Bjerde said in a statement on Friday.

The bank said that the grant funding will be provided in addition to the $535 million previously approved.

The Repairing Essential Logistics Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (RELINC) Project will help to restore essential bridges and railways to relink communities and improve westward transport linkages to mitigate impacts of Black Sea shipping disruptions.

Specifically, the project will support the purchase of modular bridges, equipment, and materials to urgently repair damaged road-to-bridge connections and vital rail lines. It will also help to finance the purchase of flatbed wagons and additional rolling stock to expand the railway's capacity to move cargo in containers.

"This project will support delivery of aid and essential services to communities directly affected by the war and will boost the economy in Ukraine and beyond by facilitating transport and trade. We are grateful to our donors and partners for their continued support, generosity, and collaboration," Bjeorde added.

This is the second scalable World Bank supported emergency operation approved within two months that mobilizes partner resources through an innovative framework approach. The first one was approved in December and focuses on repairing health infrastructure and health services.

RELINC grant funding will be provided through the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF) set up by the World Bank to coordinate grant financing for sustaining Ukraine's government functions, delivering services, and implementing relief efforts. The URTF is a flexible platform with current contributions from Austria, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

To date, the World Bank has mobilized more than $18 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine, including commitments and pledges from donors. More than $16 billion of this financing has been disbursed through projects, including Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE) Project.