The international forum “Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investment” will take place on October 22–23, 2026, at the ROMEXPO Exhibition Center in Bucharest, Romania.
The forum is organized by the New Strategy Center and the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event is expected to bring together representatives of government institutions from Ukraine, Romania, and other countries, as well as international financial organizations, businesses, investors, local authorities, and experts.
According to the preliminary program, the forum will last two days. The main topics of discussion will include infrastructure and transport connectivity, security and defense, financing mechanisms and business opportunities, energy, agriculture and sustainable development, the recovery of Ukrainian regions and cross-border cooperation, as well as human capital.
The forum is scheduled to open on the morning of October 22. George Scutaru, CEO of the New Strategy Center, and Mihai Daraban, President of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are scheduled to deliver opening remarks.
One of the first plenary discussions will be a panel titled “Business Bridges for Economic Recovery: The Strategic Role of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.” Among the confirmed participants are Gennadiy Chizhikov, President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the heads of the chambers of commerce and industry of Romania, Poland, Italy, and Moldova; and Adrian Zuckerman, former U.S. Ambassador to Romania.
A separate segment of the program will be dedicated to the Romania-Ukraine-Moldova strategic transport and investment corridor. Representatives of the Ukrainian government, the Verkhovna Rada, UkraineInvest, and Romanian authorities are scheduled to participate in the discussion. At the same time, international mechanisms for financing reconstruction will be discussed with representatives from KfW, Poland’s BGK, and other financial institutions.
A significant portion of the forum will have a practical investment focus. Separate sessions are scheduled to present investment opportunities in the Kyiv, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi, Odesa, and Kherson regions. The broader concept of the forum also includes the participation of the Mykolaiv region.
On the first day, discussions are also planned on the role of business associations in mobilizing capital for reconstruction, food security and Ukraine’s agricultural potential, the development of the Danube logistics hub, attracting private capital to reconstruction efforts, Black Sea security, unmanned systems, the restoration of housing and cities, Ukraine’s energy transition, and the return of human capital.
Among the announced participants in the finance panel are representatives from the European Investment Bank, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR), Poland’s BGK, and Romania’s Investment and Development Bank.
The second day, October 23, will begin with a plenary discussion on ending Russian aggression against Ukraine, international pressure, negotiations, and security guarantees. The program also includes panels on Ukraine’s experience with unmanned systems, the reintegration of veterans, the restoration of the power grid, the role of
the Danube as a strategic transport corridor, and the development of connections between Poland, Ukraine, and Romania.
Separate discussions will address sanctions and post-war reparations, energy cooperation in the Black Sea region, the participation of Romanian companies in Ukraine’s reconstruction, joint production of dual-use goods, and the use of EU programs to develop cross-border cooperation.
According to the program, simultaneous interpretation into Ukrainian, English, and Romanian will be provided at the forum.
The organizers emphasize that the program published as of September is preliminary; therefore, the list of participants, panel titles, and their schedules are subject to change.
Advance registration is required to participate in the forum. The contact person on the Ukrainian side is Kateryna Dadiverina, tel. +40 721 616 747, e-mail: ecaterina.dadiverina@newstrategycenter.ro.
For questions regarding partnerships, sponsorship packages, and exhibition booths, please contact the New Strategy Center: Ana-Maria Shaer, tel. +40 753 103 310, email: ana.schaer@newstrategycenter.ro.
Detailed information and the latest forum program are available on the official website of Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investment.
The “Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investment” forum’s media partners are, as usual, Interfax-Ukraine and Open4Business.
An overwhelming majority (72%) of Ukrainians support peace talks with Russia, however, about half of citizens are open to territorial compromises to end the war, while an absolute majority considers any reduction or limitation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s strength unacceptable, according to the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the Future Research Foundation and presented during a press conference at the “Interfax-Ukraine” news agency on Thursday.
“The dynamics of public sentiment demonstrate a strong desire to find diplomatic avenues for a ceasefire. Specifically, 72.2% of respondents tend to support peace talks with Russia. Opposition to this stands at 20.8% of those surveyed,” said Svitlana Kushnir, project manager at the Foundation for Future Studies, during the presentation of the survey results.
Among the possible ways to end the war, 48.5% favor compromises and ceasefire negotiations, even if they involve territorial or political concessions; 24.6% support a temporary “freeze” of the front lines without officially acknowledging the loss of territory, while 18.6% of respondents favor continuing the war to restore the 1991 borders without compromise.
At the same time, 51.7% of citizens are open to territorial compromises to end the war (29.4% – “yes, if it leads to the end of the war,” 22.3% – “probably yes”), while 41.3% of respondents oppose territorial compromises. (20.4% – “no, under no circumstances,” 20.9% – “rather no”).
“This negotiation track is closely linked to security red lines, which society considers unacceptable to cross. In particular, 76.3% of respondents consider reducing or limiting the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the request of the other side to be unacceptable even if it ensures security (for 55.2% of respondents, this is categorically unacceptable),” Kushnir reported.
According to her, 58.7% of respondents believe that the situation in Ukraine is moving in the wrong direction (30.9%—definitely, 27.8%—somewhat). At the same time, 32.5% of respondents assess the direction of development as correct (8.6%—definitely, 23.9%—somewhat), while 8.8% were unable to answer.
At the same time, a number of acute socioeconomic problems are dampening the willingness to compromise, particularly bribery and corruption within government structures (51%) and rising food prices (39.6%). In addition, there is a certain level of concern regarding the winter season: 56.1% of households are fully or partially prepared for possible prolonged power and heating outages, while 43.2% rate their preparedness as insufficient.
According to the survey results, 84.5% of respondents consider the current mobilization process to be unfair, with 59.6% deeming it absolutely unfair.
Ihor Zhdanov, a political expert, former Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine (2014–2019), and head of the “Information Defense” project at the Open Policy Foundation, notes that these survey results indicate that Ukraine and its politicians are ready for negotiations, but “they want negotiations with substantive content, not just negotiations about surrender.”
“It is clear that there can be no question of any kind of surrender in Ukrainian society. The point is to hold negotiations, find some kind of compromise, and this society is ready for a compromise. So why isn’t peace being achieved? Why aren’t substantive peace consultations and negotiations already taking place, and why hasn’t some kind of ceasefire been declared for this purpose? And the Russian dictator Putin isn’t ready to hold peace negotiations; he doesn’t want to. Because there, in Russia, the circumstances haven’t yet arisen that would force him or push him toward peace,” he noted during a press conference.
Commenting on the fact that 76% of Ukrainian citizens consider reducing the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine unacceptable, the expert noted that this indicates that Ukrainian society relies solely on itself and its own Armed Forces. “We rely on ourselves and on our Armed Forces; we also need to develop our own defense-industrial complex so that the situation remains predictable and so that there are level playing fields for Ukrainian and foreign companies,” Zhdanov said.
He also pointed out that more than half of Ukrainians consider corruption in government to be a particularly pressing problem—even more serious than rising prices and low wages.
“Bribery and corruption in government are not just a matter of public opinion but also a problem related to receiving funds from the European Union. We were told in no uncertain terms: you must carry out judicial reform; there is the Kachka-Kosa plan related to anti-corruption efforts, such as adopting an anti-corruption strategy, competitive selection of prosecutors, and implementing judicial reform. Unfortunately, of the 10 points, none have been implemented. All of these bills will benefit the country. None of them are controversial, unlike bills in the socioeconomic sphere. They need to be adopted, but for some reason they aren’t being adopted, and this simply means that we aren’t receiving the corresponding funds from the EU,” Zhdanov noted.
The survey was conducted from September 19 to 22 using the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) method with a random sample of mobile phone numbers among 1,203 respondents aged 18 and older in all government-controlled territories of Ukraine. The maximum theoretical margin of error does not exceed 2.9% with a 95% confidence level.
Armed Forces of Ukraine, mobilization, NEGOTIATIONS, POLL, UKRAINE
In the first quarter following the EU’s introduction of quotas on metal product shipments, Ukrainian metal exporters used 100% of their quarterly guaranteed quota for duty-free shipments to the EU of cold-rolled flat products made of unalloyed and alloyed steel, hollow sections, and other seamless pipes, according to a statement on the website of the “Ukrmetallurgprom” association.
According to the statement, as of September 30, 2026, the quotas in the following categories under the global (final) quotas in which Ukraine participates have been exhausted: metal-coated sheets (MFN subgroup—“Most-Favored-Nation treatment”), metal-coated sheets (FTA subgroup—“countries with a free trade agreement with the EU”), unalloyed and other alloyed steel bars and light sections (MFN subgroup—“most-favored-nation treatment”), stainless steel bars, billets, and small-section products (MFN subgroup – “most-favored-nation treatment”) and stainless steel bars, billets, and small-section products (FTA subgroup – “countries with a free trade agreement with the EU”).
Among competing countries, the guaranteed quota as of September 30 has been exhausted for the following categories: rebar – Turkey; wire rod of non-alloy and alloy steel – Turkey; hollow sections – Turkey and Macedonia; seamless stainless steel pipes—India; cold-rolled bars and rods of unalloyed and alloyed steel—Switzerland; and unalloyed wire—Turkey.
As of September 29, 2026, the competitive quota has been exhausted for the following categories: hot-rolled flat products of unalloyed and alloyed steel, rebar, wire rod of unalloyed and alloyed steel, hollow sections, seamless stainless steel pipes, other seamless pipes, and non-alloy wire.
As previously reported, once the guaranteed and competitive quotas are exhausted, further shipments to the EU are subject to a 50% tariff. “Ukrmetallurgprom” criticized the EU’s decision to restrict shipments of Ukrainian steel products, which had been supplied to Europe duty-free for the first three years following Russia’s full-scale aggression. The association believes that Ukraine currently poses no threat to European producers, as the war initially caused the country’s steel production to plummet from 40 million metric tons to 7.5 million metric tons, and currently, nearly all steel plants are shut down due to shelling.
EU, EXPORTS, METALLURGY, QUOTA, UKRAINE
The Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine reports that the October phase of the “Veterans’ Sports” program will not take place, and the ministry is working to resume it in 2027.
“Ukraine continues to live under conditions of full-scale war and a difficult economic situation. National defense remains the top priority for government spending. Under these circumstances, the state budget’s capacity to fund other areas is limited. At the same time, demand for the ‘Veterans’ Sports’ program has turned out to be significantly higher than expected,” the ministry’s statement reads.
It is noted that in 2026, 600 million hryvnias were initially allocated for the program—based on an estimate of 100,000 recipients per quarter. Accordingly, approximately 300,000 applications were expected over three quarters; however, the program was utilized more than 800,000 times.
Due to this demand, additional funds were allocated to the program throughout the year, and in total, payments exceeding 1.2 billion hryvnias were made in 2026—more than double the initial projection.
“Thus, the program has already covered as many participants as this year’s budget allows. All allocated funds were used for payments, including those returned from previous periods. Since the available financial resources have been exhausted, additional funding is required to carry out the October phase. However, at this time, there is no possibility of allocating funds for this from the state budget. Therefore, unfortunately, a new application phase will not open in the “Diya” app in October, and payments of 1,500 hryvnias will not be made as part of this phase,” the ministry stated.
At the same time, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs states that it is working to transition the program from a pilot format to a permanent one by 2027.
As previously reported, on January 3, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a pilot project to introduce quarterly assistance in the amount of 1,500 UAH for sports activities for combatants and individuals with war-related disabilities. Combatants could apply for these funds quarterly through the “Diya” app.
FUNDING, Ministry of Veterans Affairs, SPORTS, UKRAINE, ветеран
In 2026, the Ministry of Economy and Environment of Ukraine decided to provide state funding for infrastructure development to nine industrial parks totaling 557 million UAH, and will soon review applications from the “Uzhhorod” and “Khust” industrial parks for 120 million hryvnias, according to Dmytro Kysilevsky, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic development.
“In 2026, decisions have already been made regarding nine industrial parks totaling 557 million hryvnias. Among them are the Transcarpathian industrial parks ‘Tyachiv’ and ‘Friendly Wind Technology.’ Applications from the “Uzhhorod” and “Khust” industrial parks, totaling 120 million hryvnias, will also be reviewed in the near future,” he wrote on Facebook following a meeting held on Wednesday with the initiators and management companies of Transcarpathia’s industrial parks.
Kysilevsky noted that the state provides funding for the development of industrial infrastructure in industrial parks on a 50:50 co-financing basis; recipients are also required to build at least 5,000 square meters of industrial space and attract at least two tenants.
He noted that prior to the full-scale invasion, there was only one industrial park in the Zakarpattia region, but now there are already 12, and three more are preparing to apply for registration by the end of 2026.
“The security factor has become the main draw for industrial investment in the region. In terms of the number of industrial parks, the region is already among the top three, behind Kyiv and Lviv regions, and has well-founded ambitions to become a leader. There are 13 factories that have been built or are under construction in Transcarpathian industrial parks. They already provide jobs for about 2,000 workers,” the MP emphasized.
Kysilevsky also announced the start of construction on new production facilities in the industrial parks of Uzhhorod, Khust, and Svalyava.
As previously reported, as of September of this year, 125 industrial parks had been registered in Ukraine across nearly all regions. By the end of 2025, 37 industrial enterprises had been built or were under construction in these industrial parks. The total amount of investment attracted to the industrial parks exceeds 45 billion hryvnias.
government support, INDUSTRIAL PARK, INDUSTRY, INVESTMENT, UKRAINE
The Arab Council of Ukraine and the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council have agreed to develop the region’s cooperation with the countries of the Arab world, particularly in the economic, investment and humanitarian spheres.
According to Mohammad Farajallah, Secretary-General of the Arab Council in Ukraine, Violeta Labazuk, Chair of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council, met with Khusam Raad, Chair of the Committee on Foreign and Diplomatic Relations of the Arab Council in Ukraine, advisor to the Honorary Consul General of Ukraine in Syria, and representative of the Muslim community in the Khmelnytskyi region.
The parties discussed opportunities to expand the international ties of the Khmelnytskyi region and establish contacts with representatives of businesses and public organizations from Arab states.
Particular attention was paid to the prospects of attracting investment, implementing joint projects, developing trade and economic cooperation, and humanitarian initiatives.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed opportunities to present the economic and investment potential of the Khmelnytskyi region to potential partners from Arab countries.
The Arab Council of Ukraine stated its readiness to facilitate the establishment of direct contacts between representatives of the region and business circles of Arab states, as well as to support initiatives aimed at developing interregional and international cooperation.
The parties agreed to continue their interaction and work out specific areas of possible cooperation.
The Arab Council of Ukraine is a public organization whose activities are aimed at developing relations between Ukraine and Arab countries and strengthening business, public, cultural and humanitarian ties.
ARAB COUNCIL OF UKRAINE, Arab countries, COOPERATION, INVESTMENT, Khmelnytskyi region, LABAZIUK, UKRAINE, АБУ АЛРУБ
