Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction will create a massive market for the construction sector, industry, and related sectors; however, Ukrainian companies need to start preparing now to compete with international contractors, according to Andriy Ozeychuk, director of Rauta and chairman of the board of directors of the Ukrainian Steel Construction Center Association.
In his column for The Page, he noted that once the war ends, demand for construction will be significant from the general public, the government, and the business sector alike. According to estimates by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are about 8 million Ukrainians abroad who fled during the full-scale invasion, and the UN forecasts the return of 3–3.5 million people once lasting peace and security guarantees are in place.
According to the expert, a significant portion of those who return, as well as internally displaced persons, will need new housing or the restoration of damaged homes. At the same time, reconstruction will not be limited to the housing stock. According to estimates by the Kyiv School of Economics, residential buildings account for only about one-third of the direct losses from the war, while significant losses were also sustained by transportation and energy infrastructure, corporate assets, industry, and the agri-industrial complex.
Ozeychuk notes that, according to World Bank estimates, Ukraine’s reconstruction will require more than EUR500 billion over the next decade. This is nearly three times Ukraine’s GDP in 2025 and creates significant opportunities not only for the construction sector but also for the entire economy.
In his estimation, every hryvnia invested in construction has a multiplier effect and stimulates 1.5 to 3 times greater growth in related sectors. Examples include the postwar reconstruction of Germany and South Korea, where the construction sector became one of the catalysts for economic growth.
The expert identifies the main sources of funding for large-scale projects as direct financial assistance from international partners—including the G7, the EU, and the U.S.—the attraction of large private investments backed by state guarantees, as well as reparations and confiscated frozen assets of the Russian Federation. Ukraine’s European integration should serve as an additional incentive, as it will eventually open access to specialized EU development funds.
At the same time, Ukrainian construction companies may already face stiff competition from European players. According to Ozeychuk, the most realistic scenario would be a consortium model in which a European general contractor would work alongside Ukrainian subcontractors and use local materials certified to European EN standards.
Under this scenario, foreign companies could be involved in high-tech work, while Ukrainian businesses would handle local logistics, specialized work, and the construction of utility networks, roads, and capital construction projects.
The expert identifies financing conditions as the main barrier for Ukrainian companies. While in Ukraine construction is often carried out using substantial advance payments, the EU commonly uses a post-audit payment model—based on the completion of specific project phases. This requires significant working capital, whereas Ukrainian companies have limited access to low-cost long-term loans.
To level the playing field, Ozeychuk believes the government should launch programs for affordable long-term loans backed by state guarantees, provide preferential financing for the modernization of Ukrainian building materials plants, simplify the adoption of EN standards, and advocate for Ukrainian businesses’ participation in international grant programs.
A separate challenge will be the construction industry’s transition to European design standards. By 2028, the Ukrainian system is expected to fully integrate into the European space and adopt Eurocodes. This will remove some barriers for foreign engineers but will also require Ukrainian specialists to rapidly upgrade their qualifications.
Among the technological trends in reconstruction, the expert cites BIM modeling, digital twins of buildings, energy-efficient solutions, and the concept of net-zero energy buildings. In his assessment, the market will shift toward rapid modular construction, eco-friendly materials, and innovative solutions.
Another key constraint will be a labor shortage. According to Ozeychuk, demobilized military personnel and men returning from abroad will only partially offset the labor shortage. High demand could lead to rising wages in construction, particularly for blue-collar jobs, and could also encourage the retraining of specialists from other sectors, as well as the more active involvement of women, veterans, and older workers.
In addition, Ukrainian companies are already beginning to collaborate with agencies that specialize in the official recruitment of construction workers from South Asian countries, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Ozeychuk believes that the two main principles of the future reconstruction are speed of implementation and the “Build Back Better” approach—that is, rebuilding to a higher standard than before the destruction. It is precisely these criteria that will determine the demand for modern materials, technologies, and production capacity in Ukraine.
Rauta is a Ukrainian company operating in the field of prefabricated buildings, facade and roofing systems, sandwich panels, and steel construction. The “Ukrainian Center for Steel Construction” Association brings together companies working in the segments of metal structures, building materials, design, and industrial construction.
CONSTRUCTION, Eurocode, INVESTMENT, OZEYCHUK, RAUTA, RECONSTRUCTION
The engineering and construction company Rauta has published a guide titled “Fastening Cantilevered Structures to Sandwich Panels,” intended for designers and specialists working with building envelopes.
According to the company’s website, the guide will be useful when calculating loads on Ruukki sandwich panel cladding caused by suspended elements. The guide contains recommendations on the level of utilization of the panels’ load-bearing capacity, requirements for calculating fasteners for suspended elements, as well as specifics for determining loads from vertically installed U- and Ω-profiles or cantilever supports for cable ladders.
The document also specifically addresses point loads from through-fasteners. This is important for industrial, warehouse, logistics, and commercial facilities where engineering components, cable trays, additional structures, cladding, or auxiliary equipment may be attached to facades or wall panels.
For the construction market, these guidelines are of practical importance, as sandwich panels are widely used in prefabricated buildings, industrial facilities, cold storage warehouses, agricultural infrastructure, and retail and logistics complexes. Errors in the design of fasteners can lead to improper load distribution, damage to the cladding, compromised airtightness, or reduced durability of the building envelope.
Rauta operates in the engineering and construction solutions sector and offers building design, the supply of frames, sandwich panels, ventilated facades, and prefabricated buildings, as well as structural installation, general contracting, client services, building commissioning, and maintenance.
The company positions itself as a provider of reliable construction solutions in Ukraine and European Union countries. Rauta uses certified European-manufactured products and is the exclusive supplier in Ukraine of commercial products from the Finnish Ruukki Group.
One of Rauta’s key areas of activity is Ruukki sandwich panels. According to the company, these panels are manufactured using Finnish technologies at Ruukki’s European plants and comply with the European standard EN 14509. The supply of panels is accompanied by consultations on selection, the design of building envelopes, technical solutions, components, panel layout on facades and roofs, as well as calculations of the structures’ load-bearing capacity.
Rauta also develops its own engineering solutions. These include a patented frameless building design using sandwich panels, a construction technology for multi-story buildings that uses sandwich panels as walls, solutions to improve building airtightness, and technologies for renovating structures using energy-efficient sandwich panels.
In 2024, the company received a patent from the Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation for a technical solution for a frameless building made of sandwich panels. According to Rauta, this technology can be applied to single-family homes, cottage communities, cold storage rooms, refrigerated warehouses, and other single-story residential or commercial buildings.
In addition, Rauta is a member of relevant business and industry associations. The company is part of the Ukrainian Center for Steel Construction, the Finnish Business Group, the Finnish-Ukrainian association UkraineOffice, and the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Ukraine).
The release of the new guidelines indicates that the company is focusing not only on the supply of materials but also on providing engineering support for projects. For clients, this can reduce risks during the design and operation phases of buildings, and for the market, it can raise standards for working with sandwich panels and cantilevered structures.
Rauta presented modern technologies for constructing energy-efficient buildings at the 5th Transcarpathian Architecture and Construction Forum, which took place on June 4, according to the company’s press service.
The event brought together over 100 architects, developers, and government officials. The key theme of the forum was the development of modern architecture in Transcarpathia, taking into account the region’s future needs.
Rauta notes that Transcarpathia is currently a region of active development in tourism and residential real estate, so special attention at the forum was given to sustainable architectural solutions and energy efficiency.
Rauta Director Andriy Ozeychuk presented modern construction technologies to architects in western Ukraine, specifically the features of building a zero-energy cottage (Zero Energy Building) as well as building airtightness technology.
According to the company, investments in building airtightness technology can pay for themselves in three years.
Forum participants also discussed the role of energy-efficient solutions in the development of resort, residential, and commercial real estate in Zakarpattia, where growing tourism activity is driving demand for high-quality, modern architecture.
Rauta is a Ukrainian engineering company specializing in construction solutions for commercial, industrial, residential, and infrastructure projects. The company designs, supplies, and installs sandwich panels, ventilated facades, load-bearing profiles, frames, prefabricated buildings, acoustic structures, translucent structures, as well as industrial doors and material handling equipment.
According to estimates by experts at the Ukrainian Center for Steel Construction, the market for steel structures in 2025 reached 108,000 tons.
Imports of steel structures increased 2.4-fold, while the domestic market showed a 3% increase.
Steel structures were actively used in projects to restore and protect critical infrastructure facilities, as well as in the construction of industrial and logistics buildings.
According to industry experts’ forecasts, the steel structure market could grow by approximately 9% in 2026 and reach about 117,000 tons by year-end.
“Following a sharp drop in demand for steel structures in 2022, we are seeing steady annual growth in consumption of 15–20%. However, we are still far from the 2021 figures, when the steel structures market reached 154,000 tons,” said Andriy Ozeychuk, director of the construction company Rauta and chairman of the board of directors of the Ukrainian Steel Construction Association (UCSA).
Ukraine’s construction market in 2025, in monetary terms, increased by 24% compared to 2024 – to about UAH 248 billion (approximately EUR 5.3 billion), Rauta Director Andrii Ozeichuk reported in an overview of industry trends. At the same time, the market volume remains 34% below the 2021 level, when it was estimated at around EUR 8 billion.
According to the company’s assessment, the key segments of commercial investment in 2025 remained warehouse, industrial and retail real estate, while Kyiv, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions were named the most attractive for new construction. The segment of restoration and protection of critical infrastructure facilities is singled out separately – about 20% of the market.
Demand from businesses and households shifted toward energy independence: sales of generators rose by 130%, inverters and batteries by 50%, and solar power plants by 100%. In the commercial construction market, the agricultural buildings segment grew most dynamically (+48%), while demand for new housing overall remained at the 2024 level.
Price growth in the industry, according to Rauta, slowed: the cost of construction works and materials in 2025 increased by about 15% versus 24% a year earlier, and housing prices added 5–10%. At the same time, the labor shortage intensified – the lack of specialists is estimated at about 30%, which accelerated wage growth in construction to 25–30% in 2025; among the leaders in increases were monolithic structure workers (+50%), surveyors (+44%) and concrete workers (+38%).
The overview also notes deeper digitalization and regulatory updates: in 2025, the Unified State Electronic System in the Construction Sector (USESCS) became fully operational and its functionality was expanded, the urban planning cadastre geoportal and the “Transparent Construction” application started working, and amendments to the State Building Codes (DBN) on inclusivity enter into force on April 1, 2026.
Engineering and construction company Rauta will launch sandwich panels, ventilated facades, and roofing materials made from “green” steel on the Ukrainian market next year, Rauta Director Andriy Ozeychuk announced during a panel discussion at the 5th Ukrainian Construction Congress in Kyiv on Friday.
“In 2026, Rauta will launch sandwich panels, ventilated facades, and roofing materials made from ‘green’ steel, which is produced using hydrogen, electricity, and biogas instead of fossil fuels. The residual product of this production process is not carbon dioxide, but water,” he said, citing an example of the company’s implementation of ESG principles (Environmental, Social, Governance – environmental, social and corporate responsibility).
According to him, the use of “green” steel, in particular, will significantly reduce the amount of embodied carbon and increase the number of points when certifying a building according to the LEED and BREEAM environmental systems.
Rauta systematically implements key ESG principles in its activities, because a transparent corporate culture and reputation are important to the company’s customers. “The projects implemented by our company always incorporate solutions that comply with ESG principles. For example, the Energy series’ airtight technology and sandwich panels reduce operational carbon and increase the sustainability of the facility,” says Ozeychuk.
In 2022, Rauta was the first in Ukraine to introduce Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for building envelopes. The company is also actively involved in social projects: it partners with architectural competitions, provides grants for training young architects at InLab and Plus Minus schools, has set up a training stand in a specialized energy conservation auditorium at KNUSA, and has launched an educational project on sustainable design.
The expert noted that the advantage of steel solutions for the customer is the speed of project implementation and the ability to create large-span spaces. If necessary, steel frames can be relatively easily relocated or 100% recycled as scrap metal, which significantly increases their value for the customer compared to reinforced concrete solutions.
Ozeychuk stated that European construction customers implementing projects in Ukraine are not only willing to pay for steel solutions, but also often insist on the use of more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient materials.
“This is due to a more conscious attitude towards ecology and construction experience in the EU, where the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is in force, which sets requirements for improving the energy efficiency of existing and new buildings, which directly affects the criteria for selecting materials. Unfortunately, Ukrainian construction customers mainly look at low prices rather than environmental or quality characteristics,” he said.
According to his forecast, if Ukraine implements the European Directive, the demand for materials with better thermal and environmental characteristics will increase. “This will increase competition between Ukrainian and European manufacturers and force the former to invest in modern production processes to improve the environmental friendliness and energy efficiency of their products,” Ozeychuk believes.
Rauta is a leader in the Ukrainian steel construction market and a member of the European Construction Industry Association. The company provides design, manufacturing, and installation solutions in accordance with current EU standards. The company is licensed to perform construction work with medium and significant consequences (CC2, CC3). According to the Unified State Register, Andriy Ozeychuk owns 100% of the company’s authorized capital.
