Panellists discuss "Financing resilience: defence innovation through an ESG lens";
Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
The second part of the Luxembourg-Ukraine Tech Forum, organised by the Luxembourg-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce (LUCC), took place on Tuesday 18 November 2025 at Arendt House in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.
Part 2 of this international forum, held under the theme “Securing Tomorrow: Defence, Cybersecurity and Space”, explored responsible defence investment and space-based technologies.
The event opened with an introduction from Robert Liebl, Business Community Relations Manager at LUCC, followed by speeches from Claude Radoux, Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Luxembourg, Benno Laggner, Ambassador of Switzerland to Luxembourg, and Anna Zamazeeva, Head of Ukraine’s State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving (SAEE).
In his remarks, Claude Radoux underlined the need for collective efforts to defend Ukraine and Europe, stressing that the event was "timely" given the current context - also referring to today's Cloudflare outage, which was reportedly not due to a cyber attack, although such incidents are increasingly common. He emphasised the importance of meetings such as the forum and cooperation at various levels, and praised the participation of Switzerland, a country with "a tradition of neutrality" but also clear values.
Ambassador Benno Laggner agreed that Switzerland has been traditionally neutral, "but not indifferent", and cannot remain silent when fundamental rules are broken. He highlighted Switzerland's support for Ukraine in various areas and its condemnation of Russian aggression. He stated that "only a comprehensive, just and lasting peace is the right outcome to this war," which has had consequences for security in Europe.
Joining remotely from Ukraine, Anna Zamazeeva presented the work being done by SAEE, notably in the areas of energy efficiency and decarbonisation during wartime, emphasising the importance of social responsibility, transparency and good governance. She thanked the international community for supporting Ukraine "during this difficult time".
The first panel discussion, titled "Financing resilience: defence innovation through an ESG lens", addressed points such as: environmental, social and governance (ESG) as a contradiction and / or a catalyst in defence; cross-border collaboration between Luxembourg and Ukraine; sustainable investment in security; and balancing security needs with social responsibility. Moderated by Martin Boehm, Senior Advisor to the LUCC Board, the discussion brought together experts offering different perspectives: Rocco Mezzatesta, lawyer and Manager - ESG & Sustainable Finance at Arendt; Paula Redondo Pereira, Head of Government Relations & Regulatory Strategy at LuxSE; David Dana, General Partner at Expansion Ventures; Roman Filonenko, Environmental Protection Officer, Lieutenant Main Directorate for Mine Action, Civil Protection and Environmental Safety at Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, joining remotely; Yulia Vitka, Head of International & Government Business Interaction Department at JSC CB "Privatbank", visiting from Ukraine; and Rocío Sánchez Barrios, Security & Defence Officer at the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The second panel, “Space data and remote sensing technologies - resilience, defence and dual purpose”, explored topics including: PPP models in space security; funding and knowledge transfer; technical and logistical challenges; and space data for crisis response.
The event continued into the evening and was set to conclude with a networking cocktail.
To read more about the first part of the forum, which took place at the same location on Wednesday 29 October 2025, see: https://chronicle.lu/category/conferences-seminars/57641-luxembourg-ukraine-tech-forum-explores-future-of-defence-cybersecurity-space
