Results of the Ukraine Recovery Conference-2024 in Berlin

This year’s event was a platform for discussing the vision of Ukraine’s post-war recovery, including energy recovery, development of the defense industry, investment attraction, export development, and creating conditions for the return of Ukrainians.

The conference was attended by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Cameron, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker, First Lady Olena Zelenska, high-ranking officials from Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, and dozens of representatives of other countries. 

GOLAW partners Valentyn Gvozdiy and Sergiy Oberkovych took an active part in the events accompanying the conference, so we share with you the main opinions of experts and the main results of the event. 

“Restoration is a complex work. It is an effort to defend Ukraine from Russian aggression, to ensure the resilience of our society to any blows of this war, and to preserve our common European way of life. There is nothing left of which where Putin’s Russia comes,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in his speech.

“Our partners, donors, and investors, whose number is growing, also felt our mood and seriousness of intentions – this conference brought together more than 2,000 politicians, heads of governments, international organizations, and businesses, and the conversations have largely moved from the format of declarations and assurances of strategic support to specific, practical projects,” said Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Committee on Finance and Tax Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, on his Telegram channel. 

During the conference, 110 international agreements were concluded for a total amount of 16 billion euros, according to the German side. In particular, “the first guarantee and grant agreements for 1.4 billion euros under the investment component of the Ukraine Facility program were signed, and the announcement of a package of support for the Ukrainian energy sector from the United States for more than $800 million, and the creation of the Alliance for the Resilience of Small and Medium-sized Businesses for 7 billion euros and the Skills Alliance for more than 700 million euros,” said Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

In addition, during the conference, the Ministry of Economy presented the Investment Guide, which includes 95 investment projects requiring about $27 billion in funding. It also presented European integration documents, including the SME Development Strategy and the National Energy and Climate Plan. 

The Business Advisory Council has also been launched to help improve the investment climate in Ukraine. It includes almost two dozen CEOs of leading global companies and business associations from different countries.

The event demonstrated the strong support of the international community for Ukraine’s reconstruction, which not only promotes economic development but also strengthens political and diplomatic ties and opens up new opportunities for financing infrastructure projects and modernizing key sectors of the economy.

On the eve of the conference, the European-Ukrainian Energy Transition Hub (EUETH), of which GOLAW is a partner, organized a high-level event to discuss the prospects of Ukraine’s energy sector. The event was attended by over 40 experts from various energy sectors, including Ukrainian high-ranking officials and heads of key energy companies.