The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, acknowledged on Monday 4 July that the reconstruction of Ukraine will be a “colossal” task.
As the fighting continues, some 1,000 participants gathered in Lugano, Switzerland, to discuss the reconstruction of the country. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmyhal has announced that the cost of reconstruction is already estimated at 750 billion dollars.
“The task ahead of us is colossal”, Mrs von der Leyen said, adding that supporting and helping with reconstruction was “a moral obligation”.
The President recalled that the country will have to carry out “courageous” reforms, but that these will go hand in hand with investments. Beyond the material damage, Mrs von der Leyen stressed the social costs. “Victims, veterans, women, children, they are coming back from exile - Ukraine will have to care of them”, she warned. According to Mrs von der Leyen, the country will also have to restore business confidence and attract more foreign capital, improve the standard of living of its citizens and progress along the road to the EU.
“The challenges are huge, but they are not insurmountable. Ukraine can emerge from this war on a path towards a stronger and more modern country with a modernised judiciary, with stronger institutions, with a solid track record to fight against corruption. But also with a greener, more digital and more resilient economy”, said Mrs von der Leyen.
In addition to the reconstruction platform that the Commission has proposed to the Ukrainian government (see EUROPE 12955/2), the President announced that she and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plan to organise a high-level international conference after the summer to “bring together the brightest minds and the leading global experts on reconstruction to ensure that this generational undertaking is done in the right way”.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained from a distance that some of the key principles of reconstruction will be “maximum safety, maximum technology, maximum compliance with environmental standards, maximum use of ‘green’ technologies, maximum implementation of accessibility principles, maximum focus on community interests, maximum transparency - in planning, use of funds, selection of projects - as well as maximum rooting of the reconstruction project in the real economic life of Ukraine”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)