The world is increasingly uniting around Ukraine. For the sake of our victory, global peace and security.

On June 21-22, a joint Ukrainian-British conference URC23 was held in London. The conference was dedicated to attracting international support to stabilize Ukraine's economy and social sphere after the war.

The conference gathered a strong lineup of participants 

The URC23 was attended by some leaders of the G7 countries, foreign ministers of the G7 countries, representatives of the European Commission and international financial organizations such as the EIB, EBRD, IMF, and World Bank.

Photo by https://www.gov.uk

The Ukrainian team at the conference was represented by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov, and other members of the government.

The main issue is the restoration of Ukraine.

In the first year of the full-scale war alone, the direct damage caused to Ukraine exceeded $135 billion. 

Our country is facing the urgent task of mobilizing capital from private and public investors to restore the Ukrainian economy.

To date, the Ukrainian government has identified five sectors in which initial investments will be made: infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and information technology. The main task is to provide people with living conditions and access to basic services.

"At this conference, we have to move from vision to agreements, from agreements to real projects," President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized in his opening online speech.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at URC 2023. Photo by https://www.gov.uk

The conference was attended by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak presented a program of "war risk insurance" supported by the G7 countries, which will help limit the potential losses faced by private investors in Ukraine.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the URC 2023

The President of the European Commission emphasized that it is necessary to support Ukraine's budget, which has faced a large deficit due to the hostilities - about 40%. In view of this, it is necessary to ensure the normal operation of the Ukrainian economy, the payment of salaries to teachers, and the social sector.

Interim results of the conference for Ukraine

World leaders and more than 400 companies reaffirmed their unwavering support for our country on its path to recovery. On the second day of the Conference, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that the participants had pledged 60 billion euros to Kyiv. 

In particular:

• The UK government's support package for Ukraine includes $3 billion in new guarantees to unlock World Bank loans and £240 million ($305 million) in bilateral aid. The money will be used for humanitarian aid, energy restoration, and cyber defense.

• U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announces that the United States will send Ukraine an additional $1.3 billion in financial assistance, of which $520 million will be used to repair and modernize the energy grid, $657 million to restore critical infrastructure, and $100 million to digitize customs.  

• France is preparing a multi-year aid package for Ukraine, including €40 million for emergency reconstruction in 2023.

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that Ukraine will receive new aid to support its economy, amounting to about 50 billion euros. 

Recovery tools presented at the Conference

During the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) 2023, a public module of the DREAM digital recovery management ecosystem was presented.

"Transparent, accountable and effective recovery of Ukraine is impossible without the use of digital tools and systems. Thanks to the DREAM ecosystem, our international partners will be able to select projects for funding and track their implementation at all stages. The principle of "everyone sees everything" allows us to build trust in the recovery process, as well as to strengthen the capacity of communities and regions," said Oleksandr Kubrakov, Vice Prime Minister for Recovery of Ukraine, Minister of Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure.

"As a sign of gratitude and respect to all our partners, we have presented in London the WE BUILD UKRAINE initiative, which can be joined by all international partners of Ukraine: governmental and non-governmental organizations, financial institutions, investors, and businesses.

WE BUILD UKRAINE is an institutional partnership with all those who help rebuild Ukraine without waiting for the end of the war." - said Mustafa Nayyem, Head of the State Agency for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure on his Facebook page  @Mustafa Nayyem 

Ukraine’s Renovation League ONOVA, was represented at URC23 with a joint stand with the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The stand featured ONOVA League projects, as well as the ONOVA GIS HUB by ESRI, which is already being used to rebuild Ukraine. We have signed memoranda with the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Regional Development, and a number of other ministries and communities of Ukraine to record the destruction and further update Ukraine, so the work on entering data into ONOVA GIS HUB continues throughout the year.

We thank our colleagues at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for this opportunity.

"Ukraine is currently facing a major challenge to mobilize resources to meet the urgent needs of our country. I believe that the conference and the strong support of world leaders is a powerful signal to private investors. We, the representatives of the League of Ukrainian Renewal, are ready to offer foreign financial institutions interesting projects for investment. Although the war continues, we are working step by step to renew our country, rebuild it, modernize it, digitalize it, and make Ukraine better than it was before," commented Yehor Stefanovych, Chairman of the Board of the PU “Ukrainian Fund of Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving”, Chief Coordinator of the ONOVA League.

"We invite both private and public investors to join us in mobilizing capital for Ukraine's reconstruction. The energy sector is key to Ukraine's independence and sustainable development. Investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency will help us reduce our dependence on imports, ensure stable tariffs and create new jobs. Together we can ensure the economic revival of Ukraine and create a strong future for us and our future generations," said Anar Rafiyev, the President of the PU “Ukrainian Fund of Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving”, public figure, international businessman.

Materials from the Internet resources were used: https://www.gov.uk/, https://edition.cnn.com/, https://www.ukrinform.ua/, https://thepage.ua/

#URC2023 #StandWithUkraine #WeBuildUkraine

Торгово-промислова палата України / Ukrainian CCI