Luxembourg-Ukraine Forum Highlights Importance of Investment, Support

On the morning of Tuesday 21 May 2024, the Luxembourg-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (LUCC) held its second business forum entitled “Rapid Recovery of Ukraine” on the premises of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

Seven panel discussions are scheduled for the day, with more than 60 speakers and 300 participants present. The opening speeches were held by Evgenia Paliy, President of the Luxembourg-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, Vsevolod Chentsov, Head of Mission of Ukraine to the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, Mark Angel, Vice-President of the European Parliament and YuriiI Zarko, Mayor of Bilopillya City Council, Ukraine and Maxim Kushnir, Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine.

Evgenia Paliy held the first opening speech noting “the Russian aggression in Ukraine is killing thousands of people and forcing millions to leave their homes but the business is resilient – people are resilient.” She emphasised that the question may arise whether it is not too early to start rebuilding Ukraine, while the war is still ongoing but that she hopes that by the end of the day of discussions, it will be clear to everyone that “there is much more risk to not investing in Ukraine today”, as Ukraine’s people and businesses need support now, even during a war.

Carlo Thelen, for his part, noted the great importance that businesses play in the recovery of Ukraine as he recalled that last year’s inaugural Luxembourg-Ukraine business forum also attracted more than 300 participants, with Ukrainian and Luxembourg authorities and the private sector. He added that, according to the estimations of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, around 1200 Luxembourg companies already operated in or were interested in collaborating with Ukraine, across different sectors: industrial, financial, ICT, server security and more. He stressed the engagement of Luxembourg’s Chamber of Commerce to support Ukraine and its businesses, giving as an example the roundtable organised last November entitled “Rebuilding Ukraine: Proactive Discussions with Luxembourg SMEs”.

Vsevolod Chentsov stressed that the investment in Ukraine’s economy will enable the country to deliver more, creating unprecedented opportunities for the Ukrainian market.

Mark Angel, Vice-President of the European Parliament, emphasised that despite the “unknowns,” the European Union and European Parliament will continue to stand with Ukraine and support the country militarily, politically, financially and humanitarian aid. “The needs are staggering. At the end of 2023, the cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery was estimated at €452 billion in aid.” He added that while the path is long to ensure that Ukraine will be able to fulfil the criteria that must be met for accession to the EU (also known as the Copenhagen criteria) and in order for Ukraine to integrate the European single market, the European Parliament will stand by their side to help them integrate the European Union.

Next, Maxim Kushnir, Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, presented Mark Angel with a traditional Ukrainian doll which was said to represent the pride and resilience of the Ukrainian people.

The Forum continued with a plenary panel concerning Ukraine’s EU accession, whereby Shirin Wheeler, the Principal Advisor, SG, European Investment Bank led the discussion Vsevolod Chentsov, Olga Zykova, Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine, Isabel Wiseler-Lima, Member of the European Parliament, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Gabriel Blanc, Team leader on Reconstruction of Ukraine, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) at the European Commission, Lionel Rapaille, Director, Lending Operations in Enlargement and EU Neighbourhood, European Investment Bank and Ronald Dofing, the Ambassador of Luxembourg to Ukraine.

Further conferences on the day will highlight “Multilateral and Official Sector Financing”, “Leveraging Ukrainian Intellectual Capital”, and after a lunch break a talk will follow on “Defence Tech and Cybersecurity”, followed by “Current Progress on Decarbonisation of Ukraine”, “Project Pipelines among the Regions” and the “Reality of Building a Business in Ukraine”.

The Forum aims to bring together representatives from Ukrainian and Luxembourgish authorities, European institutions, the Luxembourgish industrial and financial sectors, international financial institutions, and investors to explore innovative strategies and initiatives to accelerate Ukraine's economic recovery and foster sustainable growth. A networking reception will follow at 19:00 at the Hotel Le Royal in Luxembourg-Ville.