The Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in Lugano, Switzerland, in early July 2022 - was the first such platform to rally all major stakeholders in Ukraine’s potential reconstruction with more than 1000 delegates from 40 Western countries, the EU, the business community, civil society, parliaments, and multilateral development banks
What was presented:
1. Partnership. The recovery process is led and driven by Ukraine and conducted in partnership with its international partners. The recovery effort has to be based on accountability for progress track and financial flows.
2. Focus on reforms. The recovery process has to contribute to accelerating, deepening, broadening and achieving Ukraine’s reform efforts in line with Ukraine’s European path.
3. Transparency. The recovery process has to ensure an independent judiciary and anti-corruption efforts and provide for accountability.
4. Democratic participation. The recovery process has to be a whole-of-society effort. It shall be based in democratic participation by the population, local self-governance and effective decentralization.
5. Multi-stakeholder engagement. The recovery process has to facilitate collaboration between national and international actors, including from the private sector, civil society, academia and local government.
6. Equality. The recovery process has to be inclusive and ensure gender equality and respect for human rights and benefit all.
7. Sustainability. Recovery and reforms will not be limited to infrastructure and institutions, they will also include social, economic, and environmental aspects in accordance with the concept of recovery based on the principle of “better than before”.
Speaking in detail about Ukraine’s recovery plan:
- Its implementation requires at least $750 billion for approx. 850 projects. Of these, 580 projects with $350 billion value are planned for 2023-2025, and 270 projects with $400 billion value are scheduled for 2026-2032.
- 15 national programs are included in the draft recovery plan. The first stage requires $60-65 billion.
- As of July 2022 - 4 groups of regions are distinguished in Ukraine subject to recovery tasks: front-line, supporting, backing and de-occupied.
• $150-250 billion investments are foreseen in the National Program for the Restoration and Modernization of Housing and Infrastructure of the Regions. In particular, it provides for the localization of the production of windows (5-6 million units per year), glass (300 thousand tons per year) and thermal insulation materials (13 million cubic meters per year).
• $35 billion is needed to implement the projects of the National Program for the Restoration and Modernization of Social Infrastructure.
• $17.4 billion is required to implement the Fast Recovery plan of priority works to restore the social infrastructure of Ukraine.
Expert Conference on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Modernisation of Ukraine, an international donors’ conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine, focusing on specific sectors, took place on 25 October 2022 in Berlin, Germany.
Discussions contributed to shaping global efforts on the way ahead for Ukraine's green, resilient, prosperous and democratic future. Topics in the agenda included:
- analysis of Marshall Plan in Europe and taking stock of the current situation in Ukraine;
- sequencing of recovery and reconstruction needs;
- exploring possible frameworks for governance and emphasising strong Ukrainian ownership in the process of mobilising resources and private sector involvement;
- priorities for Ukraine's sustainable growth, development, and stability, including with a view to EU accession.
The main focus of this event was on institutional transformation and good governance, macroeconomic and financial stability, industrial policy and sustainable development, and inclusiveness. However, the conference failed to deliver concrete pledges of donor money or agree upon an architecture to deliver reconstruction assistance. The donor countries did not come prepared with any agreement on coordination mechanisms, a division of labor, or necessary funding levels. In addition, the United States was not represented by officials with seniority commensurate to the European representation.
Italy-Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Rome, that was held on 26 April 2023 gathered several key ministers, multilateral institutions and representatives of over 1,000 Italian companies. Beyond medium to long-term projects, the main focus was providing support for the most urgent reconstruction efforts. Over 600 companies engaged in closed-door thematic conferences, as well as B2B and B2G encounters, to offer their advice and services for the “fast recovery” phase.
International institutions, such as World Bank, IFC, EBRD provided an overview on their support and investments in past and future projects.
EBRD resources to find over 200 projects and restore damaged or destroyed facilities and assist people who fled the country. We took all possible steps to support the economy of the country. In full coordination with the Ukrainian government, EBRD finances the projects on energy, roads and railways - areas crucial for the EU.
The Italian initiative was part of a wider process, as both Germany and France already held their own bilateral conferences with Ukrainian firms in October and December, respectively, while G7 countries launched a Donor Coordination Platform in February.
Svitlana Romanko, the Director and Founder of Razom We Stand expresses her thoughts about participation in the Italy-Ukraine Reconstruction Conference: “Being the only non profit organization representative on B2B and B2G Bilateral Conference on Ukraine Reconstruction was interesting. Hundreds of individuals representing big businesses and top level officials along with the four main funders of the Ukrainian reconstruction EIB, EBRD, World Bank and IFC, had gathered together in Palazzo di Congressi in Rome on April 26 to discuss investment into reconstruction of Ukraine and how much would it take. The Prime Minister of Italy stated that Italy is on the Ukrainian side in 360 degrees and its talk is to help Ukraine to draft a new chapter now and in 2024 when Italy will be taking over the G7 Presidency and submitted a request to host a Ukrainian Recovery Conference in 2025. What caught my attention as a lawyer, was ”A world where the rule of law is replaced with the rule of violence is not the world that we want”.
