The Government of Ukraine, together with the Kyiv School of Economics and with the support of the World Bank Group, opened the newly created Centre for Advancement in Restoration and Modernisation Capacity (CARMC).

During the opening ceremony, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, noted that the speed, quality and pace of recovery depends on who will rebuild our country.

"The main investment is not money. The main investment is people and their skills.

I strongly believe that the Centre will create a powerful, active community of experts to share experience and implement best practices in an atmosphere of trust and constructive dialogue," said Oleksandr Kubrakov.

He also stressed that overcoming the economic consequences of the war and effective reconstruction was possible only through joint efforts of the state, local governments, foreign partners, donors and business.

In her turn, Deputy Minister for European Integration Anna Yurchenko stressed that the country's recovery had already begun.

"There are more and more reconstruction projects, so we need to focus on the actual ability to implement these projects. We need to have the internal capacity to find experts, specialists and form teams to manage projects," said Anna Yurchenko.

CARMC aims to increase reconstruction capacity. In particular, by creating programmes that will teach how to plan, implement and manage reconstruction projects, with funds from international financial institutions.

The Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development participates as a founding member of the Government as well as in the Centre's coordinating board.

The Centre's lecturers will be representatives of central executive bodies, international organisations and academia. The plan is to create a community of 6,000 reconstruction specialists in 3 years.

The Centre will research national recovery processes: laws and regulations, stakeholder roles, and digital platforms. Based on this analysis, the Centre plans to create a knowledge base for all stages of the process.

Moreover, the Centre will engage in research on the training needs, knowledge and skills gaps of different groups and different levels of professionals that hinder the effective implementation of reconstruction projects and offer training products to address these gaps.