More than 2,000 people from over 60 countries will participate in the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC-2024), which Germany and Ukraine will co-host on June 11 and 12 in Berlin, the German Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economic Cooperation and Development said in a press release on Friday.
“Together with numerous partners from politics, business, civil society and municipalities, we want to use the Ukraine Recovery Conference to do everything we can to support Ukraine on its path of reform and recovery. Our common message is clear: we stand firmly by Ukraine’s side and support it with all our strength – as long as it needs us,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock was quoted as saying in the release.
She noted that Ukraine is defending the free European way of life with great determination, and Germany and the EU, for their part, continue to provide Ukraine with all-round support: economic, humanitarian and political, as well as supplying much-needed weapons.
“We are doing everything possible so that Ukraine can soon have a seat at the negotiating table in the European Union,” the German foreign minister added.
German Development Minister Svenja Schulze emphasized that even in the current wartime, Ukraine needs to constantly rebuild homes, water pipes, hospitals and power grids.
“Surrendering is not an option. People want to continue living in their country, and for that they need electricity, water and a roof over their heads. The reconstruction conference in Berlin is a strong message of solidarity. Partners from around the world are joining forces to support Ukraine’s reconstruction,” the minister said.
According to her, this task is too big to be solved by governments alone, so companies, civil society and municipalities have been invited to the conference.
It is specified that more than 2,000 conference participants represent approximately equal parts of three groups: governments and international organizations; businesses and civil society; and municipalities and regions. In particular, more than 600 representatives of Ukrainian, German and international companies from such sectors as energy, healthcare, logistics and armament, as well as representatives of municipalities and civil society will present their work in the framework of URC-2024.
“The goal of the conference is to bring together this wide range of activities and target them to address Ukraine’s short- and long-term recovery needs,” Schulze summarized.
The release announces the launch at the upcoming conference of a new initiative for skilled workers, a skills alliance for Ukraine, and an alliance for SMEs, as well as a host of other cooperative agreements.
It is pointed out that for the first time at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, Germany, as co-organizer, is focusing on social and community recovery in areas such as education, health, and municipal and regional recovery.
“To ensure Ukraine’s early accession to the EU, the focus is also on the necessary reforms in Ukraine. In some 30 panels, participants will address this wide range of topics under the motto “United in Defense. United in Recovery. Stronger Together,” the release noted.
According to the currently available program, the conference will be attended, in particular, by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, foreign ministers of Germany, Italy, Great Britain, France, Poland and the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine’s recovery, as well as heads of leading international financial organizations.
The Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Berlin is the third reconstruction conference to be held since Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine began in 2022. In July 2022 in Lugano, Switzerland, conference participants agreed on guiding principles for Ukraine’s recovery: the recovery process should be reform-oriented, transparent, democratic and sustainable. The 2023 Ukraine Recovery Conference in London focused on mobilizing the private sector. In 2025, Italy will co-host the recovery conference with Ukraine.
The Swiss city of Lugano, where the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2022) was held in July 2022 and relevant Lugano Principles were adopted, will host the first Lugano Business Forum on May 11-12.
“The forum will bring together representatives of European business, first of all from Switzerland and Ukraine, associations, organizations, officials and opinion leaders to discuss topical issues of private sector participation in real projects of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine,” the announcement of the forum says.
The organizers are the Ukrainian-Swiss Business Association, the Swiss Trade Association SGV and the Blockchain Association of Ukraine.
It is pointed out that Lugano Business Forum is officially recognized as a part of URC2023 and a stage of preparation of the main Conference on Recovery of Ukraine, which this year will be held on June 21-22 in London.
“The Lugano Business Forum is held to give foreign business and capital access to the largest global project of the next decade: the reconstruction and transformation of Ukraine,” the organizers point out.
Seven key topics will be discussed at the forum: energy resources, food technologies, Digital, FinTech and IT, medicine and biotechnology, construction and industry, venture capital and startups, as well as the extraction of raw materials.
Among the speakers are heads of the Ministry of Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ministry of Natural Resources Roman Strelets, Ministry of Agrarian Policy Oleksandr Kamyshyn, State Agency for Environmental Protection Roman Opimakh, and Zhytomyr Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlin.
Business will be represented, in particular, by the Head of the Board of Directors of Oshchadbank Sergiy Naumov, founder and managing partner of TA Ventures Viktoriya Tigipko, Head of the EFI Group Board of Directors Igor Liski, CEO of UMGI Andrei Gorokhov, co-owner of HD Group and GFS Group Boris Shestopalov, CEO of Geo Alliance Lyudmila Kuchmenko, CEO and owner of APK-Resurs Darya Didkovskaya, President of Ozdogu Murat Kavak.
