The international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war will be held in the summer in Lugano, said Swiss President Ignacio Cassis.
“The conference, co-organized by Ukraine with Switzerland, will be held in Lugano, Switzerland in early July this year,” Cassis said at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday.
According to him, this will be a conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“When the war is over and the guns are silenced, all our efforts must be focused on reconstruction. Let the reconstruction and elimination of Ukraine’s economic consequences go through a broad political and diplomatic process. The Lugano conference is an opportunity to discuss this difficult path to recovery with all key stakeholders. parties, “he added.
According to Cassis, the conference will be a starting point in the process of rebuilding Ukraine.
According to the President of Switzerland, 40 countries and 17 international organizations have been invited to take part in the high-level conference.
Swiss authorities are imposing a ban on coal imports from Russia following a similar decision by the European Union, the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement.
“The new measures include far-reaching sanctions on goods, including a ban on imports of lignite and coal as well as on goods that are important sources of revenue for Russia (e.g. timber, cement, seafood, caviar),” the statement said.
“In addition, there are export bans on goods that can help strengthen Russia’s industrial capacities (e.g. industrial robots or certain chemical products),” the document said.
BANS, COAL, IMPORTS, RUSSIA, SWITZERLAND
Following the European Union, the Swiss authorities have announced the inclusion of an additional number of individuals and organizations in their sanctions lists in connection with the Russian operation in Ukraine. “A further 197 individuals are now subject to financial sanctions and travel restrictions and 9 additional entities are now subject to financial sanctions,” the Swiss government said in a statement.
“Switzerland’s list of sanctions now fully mirrors that of the EU,” it said.
The Russian individuals sanctioned by Switzerland include businessmen Roman Abramovich, Andrei Melnichenko, Alexander Vinokurov, Vadim Moshkovich, Dmitry Pumpyansky and his son Alexander, as well as Dmitry Mazepin and his son Nikita.
The Swiss sanctions also apply to Rostelecom president Mikhail Oseyevsky, entrepreneurs and top managers Andrei Guryev, Dmitry Konov and Mikhail Poluboyarinov, and Channel One general director Konstantin Ernst.
The Russian companies sanctioned by Switzerland are Rosneft Aero, Rosoboronexport, JSC NPO High-Precision Systems, Kurganmashzavod, JSC Russian Helicopters, the United Aircraft Corporation, the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Uralvagonzavod, and JSC Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky.
The Swiss Federal Council has decided to increase humanitarian aid to Ukraine and other countries of the region to CHF 80 million.
“In response to the refugee crisis, the Federal Council, at its meeting on March 11, decided to increase humanitarian assistance to Ukraine to CHF 80 million. With this contribution, Switzerland expresses its solidarity with the people of Ukraine in difficult times,” the Federal Council said in a statement on Friday.
A quarter of this amount will go to help Ukrainian refugees in neighboring countries. Three quarters are intended to help those who remained in Ukraine. The funds will benefit the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, UN agencies, international and local NGO and projects implemented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Ukraine.
About 12 million people are currently dependent on emergency assistance as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Ukraine and Switzerland have agreed on mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.
“I am also pleased to announce that we have agreed to recognize COVID-19 vaccination certificates for free and safe travel of citizens and businesses,” Kuleba said at a press conference following talks with Federal Adviser, Vice President and Chairman of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis in Kyiv on Thursday.
“The exchange of notes has already taken place, and I invite all citizens to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua, where you will see updated information on the conditions of travel to Switzerland,” the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry added.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister stressed that the mutual recognition of certificates is a very important step. “First of all, this is a step of trust that exists between our countries,” Kuleba added.
The next fifth Ukraine Reform Conference will be held on July 4-5, 2022 in Lugano, the capital of the Swiss canton of Ticino, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis has said.
This will be the fifth conference, we want to celebrate the achievements and look back, as well as make it inclusive: it is important to involve regional authorities, the private sector, and Ukrainian citizens, he said at the end of the fourth conference in Vilnius on Thursday.
The Foreign Minister said that Switzerland is glad to see that the international community, together with Ukraine, also wants to strategically support Ukraine’s search for its own path to a peaceful and stable future.
Cassis said that the official preparations for the conference will begin with his visit to Kyiv in October this year.
Following the fourth Ukraine Reform Conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba told reporters that attention to Ukraine is not decreasing. According to him, there are already applications from two countries to hold the conference in 2023 and from one in 2024.
He said that another important result was the recognition of the fact that Ukraine went through the crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic better than expected by international experts, and this is due to the reforms carried out by the country.
Speaking about the main plans for the next year, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister named the already begun judicial reform, which international partners are ready to help with.
As previously noted by the Ukrainian government, Ukraine Reform Conference is a key annual international event dedicated to expert discussion of progress with Ukrainian reforms. Initiated by the government in 2017, this conference is a platform that brings together Ukrainian and foreign officials, top business owners, EU, NATO, G7, and civil society representatives to draw an annual summary of reforms in Ukraine and discuss further priority steps and prospects.
Key goals of Ukraine Reforms Conference include presenting results of key reforms internationally; setting out the Government’s prioritized objectives for the year ahead; encouraging investment in the Ukrainian economy; and engaging the international community in Ukrainian reforms.
The first such conference was held in London, then in 2018 in Copenhagen and in 2019 in Toronto, and last year there was a break due to the pandemic.
