The Eastern Committee presents a dossier to be discussed at the 5th German-Ukrainian Economic Conference on Monday in Berlin.
On the initiative of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA), 50 experts have drawn up a dossier with detailed proposals and offers for economic reconstruction in Ukraine.
“We have to provide immediate aid, for example with infrastructure or energy supply, but we must also think about the future,” Michael Harms, Managing Director of the Eastern Committee, explained the initiative to the editorial network Germany (RND).
The “Rebuild Ukraine” dossier was drawn up in the run-up to the 5th German-Ukrainian Economic Conference, which is taking place in Berlin on Monday and at which Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal are also expected. In the paper, the experts recommend that the European countries involved in the reconstruction and the EU each appoint a high-level coordinator for Ukraine.
The coordinators are to form a council that will exchange information with the Ukrainian government on current needs and projects. Each donor country should retain control of its own project funds to ensure transparency and accountability.
According to Harms, a smart plan must do two things: “People must see quick results in rebuilding destroyed infrastructure. At the same time, it is important to lay the foundations for sustainable growth.” Above all, this means “exploiting Ukraine’s huge growth potential in the fields of digitization, agriculture and green energies and consistently building a low-carbon economy”.
As long as war reigns, a huge wave of investment by German companies in Ukraine should of course not be expected, said Harms. It will be more of a gradual process, but one that needs to be prepared for. And there are positive signals from German companies that are maintaining or even expanding their involvement in Ukraine despite the war, for example in the automotive supply industry or in the building materials trade.
According to the ideas of the German companies, international donors and the government in Kyiv should concentrate on creating quick incentives for the private sector, following the example of the Marshall Plan for West Germany after the Second World War. “In order to get involved, companies need reliable contacts, quick calls for tenders and approvals, and financial and legal security,” stressed Harms.
The 20-page “Rebuild Ukraine” dossier deals with the topics of construction, logistics and infrastructure, digitization, energy, health and agriculture. The considerations are to be discussed on Monday at the German-Ukrainian Economic Conference together with Ukrainian partners. The initial situation is extremely difficult.
After Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine began on February 24, gross domestic product in the second quarter of this year fell 37.2 percent from the same period last year. Economic data from the OA also shows that “supply disruptions and a soaring budget deficit drove inflation to 23.8 percent in August.”