Ukraine Recovery Conference (formerly Ukraine Reform Conference) is an annual international event dedicated to discussions on the rebuilding and reconstruction priorities of Ukraine due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1][2]
Following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, Ukraine began undertaking reforms to reinforce security and democratic accountability.[3] In 2017, Ukrainian Prime MinisterVolodymyr Groysman initiated the first Ukraine Reform Conference as a tool for active engagement and collaboration with international organizations and foreign countries to support and implement reforms in Ukraine.[4][3]
The Ukraine Reform Conference originally focused on progress with reforms in Ukraine.[4] It began as a conference including Ukrainian and foreign officials, including members of the European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), The Group of Seven (G7), civil society representatives, members of the private sector, and think tanks.[4][3] The objectives of the conference were to present results of key reforms in Ukraine, set out the priority of the Government of Ukraine's objectives for the upcoming year, encourage investment in the Ukrainian economy, and engage the international community in Ukrainian reforms.[4]
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014. The 2022 conference was originally planned as the 5th Ukraine Reform Conference. However, the focus and name were changed due to invasion of Ukraine.[1][2]
2024
In September 2023, Germany announced it will host the next conference. It will take place on June 11-12, 2024 in Berlin. [5][6]
2023
Leaders and government officials at the 2023 conference.
The 2023 conference took place in London, United Kingdom from June 21-22, 2023.[7][8]
The conference was again attended by high-level international representatives, organizations, and financial institutions.[7]President of UkraineVolodymyr Zelenskyy again attended virtually via video-link.[9]
During the conference, Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal remarked that Ukraine was facing the largest reconstruction project in Europe since World War II and requested US$7 billion in aid.[10]
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis during the 2022 conference
The fifth conference was the first conference after the Russian invasion of Ukraine which precipitated a change in name and focus of the conference from the Ukraine Reform Conference to the Ukraine Recovery Conference.[1]
It was a two-day conference held on 4–5 July 2022 in Lugano, Switzerland designed to present the Ukrainian roadmap on post-war reconstruction, including plans to raise funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine.[12] It has been called a “Marshall Plan” for Ukraine.[12][13] The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, revealed infrastructure losses in Ukraine to be more than US$100 billion.[14] Which included more than 1,200 educational institutions, 200 hospitals, thousands of kilometres of gas pipelines, water and electricity infrastructure, roads, and railways which had been destroyed or damaged.[14]
During the conference, a draft framework was presented for the post-war recovery of Ukraine. Using input from 2,000 experts, the framework was separated into three stages with an estimated reconstruction cost of US$750 billion.[14][15]
The draft framework included the following steps for the reconstruction of Ukraine:
Emergency humanitarian help, including water supplies and bridges.
From 2023 to 2025, reconstruct schools, hospitals, and homes.
The declaration was signed by heads of state and government, ministers and high representatives of Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Finland, France, Croatia, Japan, as well as senior officials and high representatives of the Council of Europe, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.[18] The United Kingdom also unveiled a large aid package for the rebuilding of Ukraine.[19]
The conference was the first one that President Zelenskyy did not attend in person and instead joined via live video link from Kyiv.[20]
During his speech, President Zelenskyy remarked on the invasion of Ukraine:
Russia's war against Ukraine is not only an attempt to seize our land and destroy state institutions, to break our independence. It is a worldview confrontation. The anti-democratic and anti-European system built in Russia is trying to prove that it is supposedly stronger than all of us: Ukraine, Europe, and the democratic world.[15]
2021
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at the fourth conference.
The fourth conference was originally scheduled to be held on July 7, 2020, in Vilnius, Lithuania.[21][22] However, due to complications from the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was rescheduled for 2021.[23]
Both President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky attended. Invitees included representatives from the following countries:
Leaders and officials in Toronto.Excerpt video from the conference.
The third conference was held on July 2–4, 2019 in Toronto, Canada.[3]
There was more than 800 in attendance, including delegations from 37 countries and 10 international organizations.[3] Among those in attendance included President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of CanadaJustin Trudeau,[25] as well as representatives from the following countries:
as well as representatives from NATO, Council of Europe, International Monetary Fund, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, OECD, Ukrainian World Congress, and the World Bank.[3][26]
Key agenda items included:
Irreversibility of reforms in Ukraine
Decentralization reform, its opportunities, efficiency, and results
Ukraine on the path of integration into the Euro-Atlantic community
As well as representatives from the United States, NATO, OECD, and other G7 and European countries.[27][28][29]
The conference focused on affirming the international partnership with and support for a free and reformed Ukraine, and topics of good governance, economic development, and objectives for 2018–2019.[28][30] Objectives included privatization of state owned enterprises, improved corporate governance, improving the business climate, land market reform, decentralization, anti-corruption, energy sector reform, infrastructure development, public administration reform and innovation and digital development.[30]
Prime Minister Groysman indicated Ukraine will continue to implement policies further align and deepen cooperation with the European Union. The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area entered into force on 1 September 2017 and provided Ukraine with access to the European single market, which increased trade of Ukrainian foreign goods with EU members states to 41.3%.[31] In 2017, Ukraine achieved more than +2% growth in gross domestic product(GDP) and was estimated to achieve +3% GDP in 2018, and >3% GDP by 2019.[31]
Groysman outlined the following 6 key reform priories:[31]
Reform priorities
Some areas of progress
Pensions
Since 2017, 10.2 million pensions were raised by an average of ₴561.17 (35.7% increase).[31]
Education
Implementation of the "New Ukrainian School" system. Increased coverage for students with special needs. In 2017, teachers’ salaries increased by 50% and an additional 25% increase in 2018.[31]
Healthcare
Multiple laws were passed, including legislation "On Improving the Availability of Medical Services in Rural Areas”, and legislation on medical care for foreigners and stateless persons. A basic implementation of an eHealth system, and an affordable medicine program. Began setting up the National Health Service of Ukraine as a designated national purchaser of medical services.[31]
Public Administration
Online tools were implemented for monitoring government decisions and plans. Creation of a single open government data web-portal (data.gov.ua) for access to public information. Implementation of 35 new e-services. Since 2017, achieved +34 in the Global Competitiveness Index and +7 in the ICT Development Index.[31]
Privatization and State-Owned Enterprises
New legislation passed. Separation of state-owned enterprises(SOEs) into more groups to help triage further reforms. Utilizing Prozorro.Sale, a joint-stock company, to pilot small scale privatization of SOEs in a transparent manner.[31]
Agriculture sector
Several resolutions on land use monitoring and maintenance. New online services. Allocated ₴6.3 billion in the 2018 state budget for agricultural purposes.[31]
2017
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson meets with Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman during the first conference.
The first conference was held on July 6, 2017, in London, United Kingdom.[32][33] The conference was attended by Prime Minister Groysman, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, and more than 30 representatives from international security and financial organizations.[33][34]
The themes of the conference were economic growth, good governance, human capital, rule of law, anti-corruption, and defence and security.[33] The Government of Ukraine presented its Reform Action Plan 2017-2020, which laid out future reform plans.[30][34]
Prime Minister Groysman emphasized enhancing Ukraine's defence capabilities in response to aggression from Russia. Groysman remarked that "improving the defense capability of our state is in the interest of the entire democratic world".[35]
Groysman cited two additional areas needing reforms, which included privatization and corruption.[36] For privatization, Groysman stated that new legislation had already been submitted to the Ukrainian parliament to develop a system of transparent and competitive privatization.[36] As well as reforming the judicial system and adopting English law. For corruption, Groysman advocated decentralization and presented strategies for anti-corruption, including the new National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the creation of an anti-corruption court of justice.[36]
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only President of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by democratic backsliding and the growth of the Ukrainian oligarchs, as well as several scandals and improvement of Russia–Ukraine relations.
Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko is a Ukrainian oligarch and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2010, and as the Minister of Trade and Economic Development in 2012. From 2007 until 2012, he headed the Council of Ukraine's National Bank. He was elected president on 25 May 2014, receiving 54.7% of the votes cast in the first round, thus winning outright and avoiding a run-off. During his presidency, Poroshenko led the country through the first phase of the war in Donbas, pushing the Russian separatist forces into the Donbas Region. He began the process of integration with the European Union by signing the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement.
The United States officially recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 25, 1991. The United States upgraded its consulate in the capital, Kyiv, to embassy status on January 21, 1992. In 2002, relations between the United States and Ukraine deteriorated after one of the recordings made during the Cassette Scandal revealed an alleged transfer of a sophisticated Ukrainian defense system to Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Japanese-Ukrainian relations are formal diplomatic relations between Japan and Ukraine. Japan extended diplomatic recognition to the Ukrainian state on December 28, 1991, immediately after the breakup of the Soviet Union and full diplomatic relations were established on January 26, 1992.
Moldova–Ukraine relations are the bilateral/diplomatic/foreign relations between the sovereign states of Moldova and Ukraine. The Moldova–Ukraine border is 985 kilometers. Ukrainians are the third largest ethnic group in Moldova, behind Moldovans and Romanians. Both countries were former republics of the Soviet Union and are also the poorest countries in Europe. Both countries have applied for membership to join the European Union in 2022.
Lithuania–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Lithuania and Ukraine. Both countries are members of the Lublin Triangle, OSCE, Council of Europe, World Trade Organization and United Nations. Lithuania supports Ukraine's European Union and NATO membership. Lithuania has an embassy in Kyiv and Ukraine has an embassy in Vilnius.
Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman, is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 14 April 2016 to 29 August 2019.
Natalie Ann Jaresko also known as Natalia Ivanivna Yaresko is an American-born former U.S. State Department official and Ukrainian investment banker who served as Ukraine's Minister of Finance from December 2014 until April 2016. On 20 March 2017, she was appointed as executive director of the Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico. Jaresko announced her resignation from the PROMESA board effective April 1, 2022. Since April 2022 she has been working as chairman of the Aspen Institute Kyiv and advisor for the non-profit Stronger Than Ever.
Aivaras Abromavičius is a Lithuanian-born investor and politician. He was Ukraine's Minister of Economy and Trade starting in December 2014. He did not retain his post in the Groysman Government that was installed on 14 April 2016. Abromavičius was Director General of Ukroboronprom, Ukraine's largest defense industry enterprise, from 31 August 2019 until 6 October 2020. He is a majority shareholder of Ukrainian agricultural company Agro Region.
Vadym Volodymyrovych Prystaiko is a Ukrainian diplomat who was Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was appointed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 20 July 2020 and held the position until he was dismissed by Zelenskyy three years later.
Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, the elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parliament on 21 May 2019, during his inauguration. The elections resulted in an outright majority, a novelty in Ukraine, for Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party, which won 254 seats.
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Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Omelyan is a Ukrainian diplomat and politician. He is a former Ukraine's infrastructure minister in the government of Volodymyr Groysman.
The European Union Anti-Corruption Initiative, EUACI, is the largest program of technical assistance in fighting corruption in Ukraine implemented by the European Union.
Oksana Serhiyivna Markarova is a Ukrainian politician and the current Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States since February 2021. Markarova is also a former Minister of Finance in the government of Volodymyr Groysman and Oleksiy Honcharuk. In 2001, she completed a master's degree in Public Finance and Trade at Indiana University.
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy is a Ukrainian politician and former actor who has been serving as the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019.
Oleksiy Valeriyovych Honcharuk is a Ukrainian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 29 August 2019 to 4 March 2020 following a landslide parliamentary election win. Honcharuk was replaced by Denys Shmyhal during the formation of the Shmyhal Government.
The Crimea Platform is a diplomatic summit initiated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in August 2021 and attended by delegations from 46 countries. It is designed to be an international coordination mechanism to restore Russia–Ukraine relations by means of reversing the 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. The protection of the human rights of Crimean Tatars, environmental degradation and the stifling of trade in the Black and Azov Sea region are also matters discussed at the summit.
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a number of speeches in multiple formats, including on social media and to foreign legislatures. The speeches have received significant attention, with a number of commentators citing a positive effect on Ukrainian morale and on international support for Ukrainian resistance to the invasion.
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