Ukraine is a platform for jointly creating modern European infrastructure: Oleksii Kuleba at the 8th German-Ukrainian Economic Forum
Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration and Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksii Kuleba took part in the 8th German-Ukrainian Economic Forum. This year’s event, held under the motto “Resilience in Action – Partnership in Progress”, brought together government officials and leading companies from both countries to explore new formats of economic partnership.
The forum served as a platform for discussions, presentations, exploration of new opportunities for bilateral economic partnership, investments, and business participation in Ukraine’s reconstruction, as well as networking between Ukrainian and German companies, investors, banks, and others.
In his address, Oleksii Kuleba thanked the Federal Government of Germany for its systematic support and emphasised that the partnership between the two countries has moved into the realm of practical results that are tangible for Ukrainian communities. Despite the fact that damages from the combat actions of the russian army are updated daily, the reconstruction of social and critical infrastructure continues.
“Ukraine’s reconstruction is not solely state programmes. It is a space for business, technologies, and joint solutions. We are creating conditions where investments become possible right now: concluding intergovernmental agreements for access to financing and risk insurance, developing public-private partnerships, and forming a portfolio of projects in housing construction, thermal modernisation, and protection of critical infrastructure,” stressed Oleksii Kuleba.
One of the priorities of reconstruction is the housing sector. The greatest destruction is in frontline regions. Accordingly, the state is working comprehensively: from emergency repairs and compensation for destroyed or damaged housing to the implementation of a new housing strategy for decades to come. Joint programmes with Germany have already enabled more than a thousand families to obtain housing through the preferential mortgage mechanism for internally displaced persons.
Addressing business representatives, Oleksii Kuleba highlighted the creation of conditions for investment right now. The state is forming a transparent institutional framework: the EU4Reconstruction programme is being launched jointly with the EU, a single portfolio of strategic reconstruction projects – the Recovery Fund – is being created, and work continues on agreements for war risk insurance and financing mechanisms.
Background
The organisers of the 8th German-Ukrainian Economic Forum were the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Ukraine), DIHK, and the Eastern Committee of the German Economy (OA), with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine.