By Ukrinform
The fourth edition of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC-2025) will soon be held in Rome, Italy. The forum will be held on July 10-11 and will follow up on a series of high-level political events dedicated to the rapid recovery and long-term reconstruction of Ukraine, which is suffering from external aggression.
This time around, the Ukrainian delegation will unveil practical projects that are either being kick-started already, even as the war persists, or are almost ready to be launched. That is to say, Ukraine is not going to request money for the future – “beautiful and unknown” – but will invite investors to a mutually beneficial partnership based on a clear vision and calculations.
What is Ukraine expecting from this year’s URC event?
Updating investment policy: shifting from ‘give for gratis’ to ‘invest and earn’
According to the updated RDNA4 (Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment) assessment, conducted by the Ukrainian Government, the World Bank, the European Commission, and the UN, Ukraine’s total recovery and reconstruction cost is estimated at $524 billion over the next decade. That amount of money is impossible to raise without the help of private investments from international partners.
After the war ends, a significant number of large-scale technological projects will undoubtedly bring along hundreds of international companies to Ukraine. But that being said, we do not count on their help as charity: They will be able to earn generously by investing in the recovery and reconstruction projects in Ukraine. But it is crucial to have at least part of this resource now, as hostilities are still raging in order to sustain the urgent restoration and maintenance needs of critical and public infrastructure, the housing sector, and key industrial facilities that are continually subject to Russian attacks.
In a comment to Ukrinform, Oleksiy Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for the Recovery and Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine, highlighted the lack of alternatives to this approach when talking about the specifics of the URC2025 event.
“We are coming to URC2025 with a clear objective in mind: to show that recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine is a practical process that is continuing even under bombardment attacks. We are showcasing concrete results, robust partnerships, and new projects that investors can join now,” Kuleba said.
“Among them are housing development programs for internally displaced persons (IDPs), community infrastructure solutions, digital tools for transparency, and examples of public-private partnerships in the sectors of water supply, transport, and healthcare. Some of the agreements will be consolidated by way of signing financial deals and memoranda right away at the conference,” Kuleba added.
Overall, URC2025 will focus on four thematic dimensions:
Business dimension: Mobilizing the private sector to sustain reconstruction and economic growth. Soliciting private capital to undertake large-scale investment is crucial for ensuring economic development and successful reconstruction. Therefore, the talk will be about considering potential risks specifically faced by the private sector when engaging in partnerships, especially the risks regarding security, financing and insurance, excessive regulation, and the labor market. Human dimension: Social recovery and human capital for the future of Ukraine. Successful recovery will take mobilizing human resources, strengthening social cohesion and ensuring inclusiveness to unlock the potential of all citizens within the country and beyond, most particularly women and young people. Among the main challenges are the reintegration of IDPs, refugees and veterans into civilian life. Local and regional dimension: Rebuilding communities and regions. Local and regional actors are key stakeholders in rebuilding Ukraine in light of the decentralization reform. The conference focuses on the role of local governments and regional administrations in the recovery and reconstruction effort, ensuring access to financing and ramping up self-government capacity. EU dimension: Accession to the European Union and the successful execution of related reforms. A deeper European integration and the prospect of joining the single market will help bring Ukraine’s policies and institutions in line with European standards, which will ensure long-term economic and social progress.
While the previous three iterations of Ukraine Recovery Conference events – in Lugano, London and Berlin – were more focused on the needs, than in Rome, the talk will be about what has already been done and where to invest now, with special focus placed on the terms and conditions for the investors who are ready to work in front-line regions.
“We will also showcase the results achieved by the regions where reconstruction is underway. Particularly in the Kyiv region, more than 23,000 facilities, ranging from residential housing and road infrastructure to day care centers for children and schools, or over 75% of the destroyed infrastructure has been rebuilt and brought back into operation,” Kuleba said.
“It is important to highlight that this has been enabled thanks to cooperation and support from international partners. We are scaling this experience up to encompass front-line regions – Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv among others. Top of our plans is to exhibit pilot projects on the recovery and restoration of these regions, with well-defined and readily available investment solicitation conditions and specific guarantees, including insurance of war risks,” Kuleba added.
At the Rome Conference, several of Ukraine’s most effective infrastructure projects will be presented. Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state-run railway operator, for example, despite continuing threats from bombardment, provides sustainable transportation of passengers and freight, with an average of 92% of train arrivals taking place at the scheduled time.
And Ukrainian ports, despite enormous risks involved, ensure the sustainability of agricultural exports by sea routes, having increased exports to near pre-war levels. While prior to the full-scale Russian invasion, about 94% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports were going by sea, the current level – despite the war ongoing – is close to the same as it was before the war, standing at 90 percent of the overall market.
“These are examples of systemic resilience and our capacity, which is based on professional work, coordination, technical training, and support from international partners. We are placing special focus on modern engineering and digital solutions – from modular building technology to digitalized management services. We are unveiling several projects that demonstrate a new approach to space arrangement, architecture, energy, and mobility in the context of post-war reconstruction,” Kuleba added.
Reprinted with permission from state media Ukrinform. See the full report here.