First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko and Ambassador Jacques Gerber, delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for Ukraine, signed an agreement amending the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which provides for a doubling of funding for recovery projects in Ukraine to CHF100 million.
As the press service of the Ministry of Economy reported on Tuesday, the document formalizes the decision of the Swiss Confederation to increase support for the competition for projects to restore Ukraine. The competition is open to Swiss companies that are already operating in Ukraine and can help in its recovery.
According to both sides, the interest of businesses was so high that they decided to double the funding at once.
“The high interest from Swiss business is a clear signal that our intergovernmental agreements are working. The additional CHF50 million will be allocated to projects in the areas of civilian protection, infrastructure restoration and development of the public utilities sector, as well as the modernization of public services. We are particularly interested in developing cooperation in the fields of energy, transport, housing, water supply, healthcare, industrial engineering, and education,” the press service quoted Svyrydenko as saying.
It is noted that the signed agreement opens up new opportunities for the implementation of joint projects under the intergovernmental initiative, which was launched in early 2025. The allocated funds are part of a broader CHF1.5 billion assistance program for Ukraine from Switzerland for 2025-2028. In total, Switzerland plans to invest CHF5 billion in a 12-year support program.
According to Jacques Gerber, the decision to increase funding is the result of close and trusting cooperation between Ukraine and Switzerland.
“Last week I visited Chernihiv, and last year I saw the scale of destruction in Kharkiv. Ukraine’s needs for recovery and reconstruction are enormous. At the same time, Swiss companies continue to operate in Ukraine despite all the challenges. They create jobs and pay taxes to the state budget of Ukraine. They also want to contribute to the country’s recovery,” Gerber explained.
The Ministry of Economy recalled that a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry and SECO on the implementation of a competition for projects for the economic recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine in cooperation with Swiss companies was signed on January 23, 2025, during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Ministry of Economy added that Switzerland is one of Ukraine’s key partners in the construction process. In April 2014, the Swiss government announced a program of long-term support for Ukraine totaling 5 billion francs for 12 years.
The Belgian state development agency ENABEL intends to participate in projects to restore critical and social infrastructure in Ukraine and will open offices in Kyiv and Kharkiv, the press service of the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development (MinRestore) reports.
“The Ministry’s team met with the Minister of Cooperation for the Development of Large Cities of Belgium, Caroline Gin and the head of the Belgian state development agency ENABEL, Jan Van Vetter. The parties agreed to start implementing projects to restore critical and social infrastructure in March,” the ministry said in a press release following the meeting.
The report notes that ENABEL has $150 million in funding at its disposal, obtained from Russian assets frozen in Belgium.
The parties also discussed the possibility of cooperation in the joint HOPE project with the World Bank to restore housing damaged by the hostilities.
