Indeed, the damage to the economy is huge. Last year the Ukrainian economy shrank 30%, and the World Bank estimated that the needed funds for recovery would exceed $400 billion. Each day, as Russia launches missiles and drones, there is damage to both the critical infrastructure and the housing. Lots of people have moved from the eastern regions closer to the front line, to Kyiv and to the other cities, but many of them are living in temporary shelters for residents who have lost their homes.
We all understand that the amount of financing that will be needed for rebuilding is huge. That's why one important pillar or source of this funding is the Russian sovereign assets that are frozen in many western democracies.
I would like to thank you for supporting the legislation, as Canada was the first to introduce legislation for the seizure of Russian assets. The procedure of the seizure of Russian sovereign assets could also be expedited, so that they can also be one of the ways to finance post-war rebuilding.
Also, as I am here in Kyiv and talking with many people, including business associations, many of the Ukrainian companies and foreign companies that never moved from Ukraine even during the wartime continue to invest in Ukraine. They continue to work there. They continue to enlarge, build new facilities, move their facilities from the eastern regions to the western regions.
First, Ukrainian companies are continuing to work. In the post-war recovery, of course, we will need more technology, more equipment for that rebuilding, and we would—