We invite you to read the third Ukraine Rebuilding Digest with an overview of the recovery news from the Recovery Alliance for 25 March—7 April.
Supporting Ukraine is key to restoring peace in Europe
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on the West to continue supporting Ukraine in its efforts to counter Russia. He also noted that Germany will not stop its efforts to support Kyiv.
According to Reuters, Scholz said this in a speech at a meeting of European Social Democrats in Bucharest. The chancellor stressed that the most effective way to prevent any escalation, including a possible conflict between Russia and NATO, is through effective deterrence. “The end of the war in Ukraine will come when Russian President Putin decides to withdraw his troops. However, he will only make this decision when he realises that he cannot win the war on the battlefield,” the German Prime Minister said.
57 countries participate in the conference “Restoring Justice for Ukraine” in The Hague
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, announced the participation of fifty-seven countries in the major conference “Restoring Justice for Ukraine”, which is taking place in The Hague on Tuesday, 2 April.
“Exactly two years ago, Ukrainian troops liberated Bucha and Irpin, revealing the horrific consequences of Russian crimes. The Bucha massacre shocked the world. And last year, a major conference was held in the Netherlands, and today is the second. Fifty-seven states are present. These are states united by one goal—to bring Russia to justice for all its crimes,” Kuleba said during a meeting with media representatives before the conference in The Hague.
In 7 months, the Ukrainian Corridor has exported 33.8 million tonnes of cargo, which exceeds the export volume for the entire year of the Grain Initiative. The corridor was opened in August 2023, almost immediately after Russia finally withdrew from the Grain Initiative and launched systematic attacks on port infrastructure and agricultural facilities.
In the first month of operation, there were only isolated ship calls, and we mostly managed to remove vessels that had been blocked since the start of the full-scale invasion. However, our team has made significant efforts to increase the number of vessels ready to call at the ports of Greater Odesa and export products, which has led to a monthly increase in this figure.
Three projects to restore educational infrastructure are already underway in Ukraine
The Ministry of Recovery is implementing three projects to restore educational infrastructure with the participation of foreign partners. This was stated by Oleksandr Kubrakov, Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction, Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, during the presentation “School Shelters: New Rules for Allocating Funds”, reported by an Ukrinform correspondent.
“The Ministry of Recovery is actively engaging foreign partners to restore educational infrastructure. We are already implementing three international technical assistance projects with a total funding of almost €50 million,” Kubrakov said.
According to him, all three projects are aimed at restoring schools in Ukraine that have been affected by the full-scale war. Thanks to funding from the European Commission and the German government, it is planned to modernise and restore more than 150 educational institutions. These projects are scheduled to be implemented by the end of 2024.
Investment Forum in Washington, DC
The forum was attended by representatives of leading investment companies and international financial institutions from the United States and South Korea, as well as representatives of large and medium-sized businesses from Ukraine. The key topic of the forum was the need to create favourable conditions for attracting investments that could help Ukraine during the war. They also discussed the possibility of attracting private savings to stimulate investment and use frozen Russian assets.
The forum participants stressed the important role of international trade and cross-border investment in Ukraine’s development, which contributes to the stability and prosperity of the global economy. Particular attention was paid to investments in Ukraine’s military economy and the development of impact investment projects aimed at positive social, economic and environmental impact.
EBRD calls for subsidised insurance to help Ukraine rebuild quickly
According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, subsidised insurance will attract investors to help rebuild Ukraine’s war-torn economy. “Reconstruction can start very quickly”, — EBRD Chief Economist Beata Javorcik said on Bloomberg Television on Friday. “I was in Berlin a week ago, and German companies are very interested, they are ready to invest, provided there is some insurance.”
According to Yavorchyk, Poland and other neighbouring countries of Ukraine have good opportunities to become logistics centres during the reconstruction. Companies from Europe, “as well as from the US, will be very interested in investing in Ukraine, if the situation allows.”
