Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal took part in the opening of the International Expert Conference on Restoration, Reconstruction and Modernization of Ukraine, which is being held in Berlin on October 25 at the initiative of the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz.

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the event online. Also, the Conference gathered together the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki, the President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis, and the Secretary-General of the OECD Mathias Cormann.

In his statement, the Prime Minister of Ukraine has stressed that the Conference should result into obtaining thorough calculations of exactly how Ukraine should be rebuilt step by step. Not only regarding the recovery after war but regarding the current recovery as well. For this purpose, Ukraine engages in fulfilling obligations taken during the Lugano Conference.

“Ukraine has already adopted the necessary legislation for the creation of the Fund for Liquidation of the Consequences of Russia's Aggression within the framework of the state budget of Ukraine. And the President of Ukraine announced creation of a state fund for recovery of our country,” noted Denys Shmyhal.

According to the Head of Government, during the 4 months, the joint Reforms Delivery Office collected comments and proposals for the draft Recovery Plan from representatives of 14 countries, UN agencies, the Representation of the European Union in Ukraine, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank Group, the European Investment Bank, the Japanese international cooperation agency (JICA), a number of international organizations and institutions.

“Our Government received more than 300 proposals from 163 representatives of business and NGOs in Ukraine. They have been worked out by working groups and appropriate changes have been made to the sections of the Plan,” told Denys Shmyhal.

According to the Prime Minister, Ukraine continues to implement the Association Agreement. By the end of 2022, we plan to adopt about 100 EU standards for various industries.

“Business deregulation, privatization, systemic customs reform, Government reform, increasing the targeting of assistance to citizens and businesses, liberalization of the labor code, digitalization and expansion of electronic services. All these things happen against the backdrop of war,” stressed the Head of Government.

Moreover, Denys Shmyhal stressed that the Government of Ukraine, together with the teams of the World Bank and the European Commission, had presented a report on the damage caused by the war. As of June of this year, the verified needs for recovery already amount to USD 350 billion. The World Bank report is transparent and accessible to everyone.