UNIC participated in the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin: key takeaways

On 11-12 June, UNIC Executive Committee Chairman Glib Bakalov and Head of the Secretariat Antonina Prudko took part in the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2024) and its side events in Berlin.

The conference was held under the slogan ‘United in Protection. United in Recovery. Stronger Together’, which in particular highlighted the peculiarities and differences of one of the most important measures for the recovery of Ukraine. Unlike in previous years, this year's organisers from the Ukrainian and German sides managed to bring together an unprecedented number of participants - more than 3,400 representatives of governments (ministerial-level delegations from 60 countries), international organisations, and financial institutions. Representatives of business, local communities and civil society joined the Conference in a special way through the Recovery Forum. The Recovery Forum, which took place during the Conference, enabled Ukrainian businesses and local communities to interact with all stakeholders, share their success stories, voice their urgent needs, and find partners or potential investors.

The main goal of the URC 2024 was to mobilise long-term international support for Ukraine's sustainable recovery, reconstruction, reforms and modernisation. At the same time, a cross-cutting theme that emerged during numerous discussions, debates, interviews, and roundtables was the issue of ensuring Ukraine's energy and military security as a key prerequisite for sustainable recovery.

Preparing for last year's Conference in London, the UNIC in its roadmap identified the private sector as a driver of effective recovery, the importance of deregulation for business, and a paradigm shift in the relationship between the state and business, in particular through the introduction of a culture of integrity, completion of judicial and law enforcement reforms, provision of state guarantees, the rule of law and equal rules of the game for all stakeholders. These topics were discussed in all the thematic dimensions of the Conference, including the Business Dimension - attracting private capital to recovery and economic growth; Human Dimension - social recovery and human capital for the future of Ukraine; Local and Regional Dimension - recovery of communities and regions; EU - European integration and reforms accompanying it.

The willingness and unanimity of Ukraine's international partners to provide practical support to Ukraine has become more visible. There is a realisation that Ukraine is fighting for not only its borders but also the values of the democratic world at a huge cost.

In addition to statements at the highest political level, additional assistance packages were announced, initiatives were launched, and political commitments were made. At the initiative of Germany and the United States, a Business Advisory Council was established to promote private sector involvement in Ukraine's recovery, including by advising on increasing private sector investment. The Ukrainian delegation presented an investment guide containing examples of investment projects in agriculture, energy, infrastructure, green metallurgy, critical resources and technologies. Accordingly, the EU has launched a special investment programme for Ukraine under the investment component of the Ukraine Facility Plan.

Special attention was paid to supporting and developing small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. In particular, at the initiative of Germany and Ukraine, the SME Sustainability Alliance was launched together with 31 international partners to strengthen SMEs and increase their access to finance.
It is important to note that integrity issues and business integrity in particular play a key role in ensuring the effectiveness of all the above processes and initiatives of URC 2024. UNIC, as a collective action initiative, is currently actively promoting the best existing business integrity practices in Ukraine, as well as advocating for the implementation of international standards, in particular the OECD, which are closely related to the issue of combating international bribery, minimising corruption risks through the introduction of a culture of business integrity and compliance among Ukrainian businesses, including small and medium-sized ones.