Ukraine and Germany strengthen economic cooperation

Issues concerning Germany’s support for Ukraine’s European integration, cooperation in the fields of environment, climate change, and the development of the Platform for Action on the Green Recovery of Ukraine (UGRP), among others, were discussed during the meeting between the Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, Oleksii Sobolev, and the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Carsten Schneider.

An important topic of the meeting was the application of the CBAM to Ukraine. The parties agreed that German expertise would help Ukraine with the certification of Ukrainian emissions verifiers (ETS).

“For Ukraine, resolving the issue of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is very important, as our metallurgy sector is already suffering because of it. Since Ukrainian steel is produced partly from scrap metal using electricity without coal generation, the EU’s CO₂ emissions assessment may be overstated. We expect that German expertise will help speed up the resolution of this problem and unblock our exports,” noted Oleksii Sobolev.

Separately, issues of energy were discussed, in particular the development of renewables, the expansion of wind generation in Ukraine, and the export of biomethane produced from agricultural raw materials to Germany. As was noted, Ukraine is ready to export biomethane as soon as the relevant EU database becomes operational and German legislation on green gas quotas comes into force.

During the meeting between the Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine and the German Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space, Dorothee Bär, discussions focused on innovation and increasing productivity, which are the foundation for building a resilient economy.

Germany has its own agenda for the development of high-tech sectors, focusing on artificial intelligence, bio- and quantum technologies, nuclear fusion, and more, and is ready to actively involve Ukraine in it. In turn, Ukraine also has something to offer its partners: the country is actively developing dual-use technologies, and there are prospects for joint projects in the energy and space sectors, science, and industry.

Oleksii Sobolev and Dorothee Bär also discussed the possibility of creating accelerators for startups and SMEs, as well as the joint development of pilot projects for the professional retraining of personnel. At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to formalise their cooperation by signing a bilateral document at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC-2026) in Gdańsk.