Your Excellency Secretary General, your excellencies representatives of OECD Member States!

Once again, since the beginning of the full-scale russian war against Ukraine, I would like to express, on behalf of all Ukrainian people, our gratitude to you and to all our partners for the profound support. Your support brings the victory of Ukraine and of the entire democratic world closer.

When faced with unprecedented challenges, Ukraine is even more determined to continue reforms and move on our path towards the EU membership.

Ukrainians are paying an ultimate price for their right to live in a free, democratic, and prosperous country. Ukrainians are paying with their lives.

Russia continues massive attacks against our country, killing people and destroying our infrastructure. But they cannot destroy our determination to become a part of the European family and of the civilized world.

We are embarking on our journey towards the EU and the OECD during these difficult times. We are grateful for making a positive decision to grant Ukraine a status of prospective member of the OECD and for starting the initial accession dialogue.

Ukraine aspires to join the OECD as a leading platform for democratic countries with a market economies to exchange expertise in matters of post-war recovery, reforms, and the formation of state policies.

Today, we have signed an updated Privileges and Immunities Agreement and are ready to open an OECD Liaison Office in Kyiv.

We are ready to work with you on the Ukraine-OECD Country Programme. We believe this Programme will bring us closer to the OECD standards in many important areas already in the coming years.

We would like also to define our priorities of cooperation for better development of internal policies and further movement towards the OECD.

At this moment, Ukraine is requesting a detailed plan for the OECD accession, with milestones, instruments, and measures that we would rely on to meet all the requirements.

Ukraine and the OECD are working as one team. During the last months our cooperation intensified. Together we have developed proposals for an action plan and key instruments to deepen our cooperation.

During October and November this year Ukraine took part in almost 20 meetings of the OECD working groups and committees.

We applied to join the Working Group on Bribery. We are grateful for the positive decision of the Working Group and for granting Ukraine a participant status.

We appreciate the opportunity to continue the dialogue on the preparation of Ukraine’s Economic Outlook. This Outlook should guide our cooperation on recovery and development of Ukraine.

We welcome your initiative to open a Ukraine’s desk in the OECD Economic Department to facilitate the economic outlook and develop proposals for improving economic policy based on OECD recommendations.

We are also grateful for the OECD’s report on the role of decentralization reform, regional development and local self-government in Ukraine’s wartime resilience and recovery.

Today we have many areas of cooperation, and we already have the first results.

In Lugano, we presented the draft Recovery Plan of Ukraine, our vision of recovery phases and priority projects.

We are grateful to the OECD for extensive comments on the Plan. Our team has already processed the comments and proposals and held a round of discussions with OECD experts.

All sectoral comments were reflected in the updated version of the Plan. Upon the recommendation of the OECD, we developed an updated version of the Recovery Plan with a focus on cross-cutting issues and the implementation of the Lugano principles.

The Recovery Plan includes three phases. Now the main priority is survival and rapid restoration of critical infrastructure and the energy sector to get through the winter period.

The latest Russian attacks against Ukraine’s electric power system resulted in half of the energy infrastructure being damaged. These damages led to the destabilization of the power grid and power outages in the country. This affects all sectors of Ukrainian economy and social life.

The approximate cost of emergency support for the electric power industry is estimated at USD 500 million, while for the district heating sector is estimated at another USD 500 million.

In September, the World Bank, the European Commission and the Government of Ukraine presented a joint report on damages, losses and needs for recovery.

According to the report, total reconstruction and recovery needs are estimated at 349 billion USD as of June 1, 2022. Today the needs for reconstruction by the World Bank and the Government of Ukraine are increased to USD 500-600 billion.

Ukraine is in great need of help today. So, I appeal to you, dear colleagues, to help us with urgent recovery.

Your excellencies,

We are aware that we must adhere to all OECD criteria to become a full member. And we are determined to work towards this.

Key priorities and a joint action plan with clear requirements will allow us to speed up the reform process and facilitate Ukraine’s joining the OECD.

We are continuing reforms and European integration even in times of war. And we would be grateful if you could give us a clear plan, so that in a year's time we can review our progress together and start accession negotiations.

Thank you, colleagues, for your trust. We once again I confirm Ukraine's readiness to fulfill its obligations as a prospective member to join the OECD.