Recovery, reforms, or reconstruction? Results of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin. Photo: Presidential Administration of Ukraine

The topic of Ukraine’s recovery is one of the most discussed issues not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. Dozens of roundtables, discussions and conferences are organized on this issue. At the same time, there is never as much talk about recovery as in June of each year. The reason for this is the annual international Ukraine Recovery Conference. This year, the conference is being hosted by Berlin.

It must be said that the very concept of recovery has quite a vague meaning and is repeated so often that it has already caused some scepticism in part of Ukrainian society. It could be ignored for some time, but this perception of the topic of recovery is present, and therefore requires our comprehension. The government and civil society should change the way they look at the purpose of the conference. If last year it was enough to talk about the funds we need for recovery, today we must learn to look at the recovery process in the context of public confidence in the government’s policies and the situation at the front.

This year, the Ukrainian authorities have coped with this task. The speeches of Ukrainian and the European speakers contained clear and understandable messages about Ukraine’s needs “here and now”: energy, weapons production, air defence, and the official start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union in June. These are important points not only in terms of Ukraine’s immediate needs, but also because only after these goals are achieved can we talk about medium-term planning. And all talk about investments, reforms and a vision for Ukraine’s development must be backed by addressing the current consequences of the war. 

Let’s go back to the lack of a clear distinction between recovery, reforms and reconstruction. It is our good fortune and our problem that the terms recovery, reforms and reconstruction all have the same capital letter, and this gives us the opportunity to keep the short title of the URC conference. However, this advantage in the title cannot offset the problem of the stated goal of the conference. This year, the key objective of the URC2024 conference is to consolidate sustainable international support for the recovery, reconstruction, reform and modernization of Ukraine. Such a broad statement is important because it allows for a better understanding of the conference’s subject matter. At the same time, it requires better coordination between the Ukrainian government, international partners, and civil society.

It is important not to lose sight of any of the directions: a more strategic vision of Ukraine’s recovery, taking concrete steps to complete the reforms that began in 2014 and rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure here and now for the sake of people’s lives and with an understanding of the future prospects of the country. It is critically important that each party understands its part of the work and has its responsibility.

We would like to state that this year’s approach by the German and Ukrainian sides to involve Ukrainian experts in the conference is the right signal and a step towards building cooperation. Unfortunately, as a result of the horrific Russian invasion and daily terror, not only our financial needs for recovery and reconstruction are increasing every year, but also the complexity of the process itself. It is hard to imagine that reforms, restoration, reconstruction and modernization can be fully carried out by only one branch of government. To achieve all these goals, we must find an opportunity for a systematic dialog between civil society, the government, and European partners.

A competition of ideas, not of key stakeholders, is the formula for successful recovery. Scepticism within the country about the recovery process and reforms, as well as the germs of distrust, can only be overcome by the voices of the government and civil society. These voices may have different sounds, different semantic and emotional content, but they must be united. It is important that the government is ready to listen to civil society. However, the public sector must also change: today it is not enough to talk about problems, it is necessary to learn how to offer concrete solutions and take responsibility for their advocacy.

Recovery and reforms are impossible without maturation, which implies an increase in trust between the declared participants of the conference and a willingness to work for a common result. And we will be able to assess the readiness for such cooperation after the conference in Germany. Ukrainian civil society and the government have been talking about European integration for years, but now it is time to do the hard homework that requires cooperation, honest dialogue, and the ability to solve complex problems, and we have no room for error.

Finally, the ruthlessness of the challenges Ukraine is facing requires all of us to take a systematic and far-sighted approach, to formulate policies that will provide a certain predictability and consistency of government decisions that can be maintained in the future and with the change of political power. Recovery, reforms, or even reconstruction – all this should be done with an understanding of the EU integration process. At the conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen already stated that the EU membership negotiation process should begin by the end of June.

“All Europeans need the EU,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

“The EU is Ukraine’s home,” von der Leyen confirmed in her speech.

What seems clear is that we can get to EU membership by learning to work together. The president of the European Commission clearly stated at the conference that Ukraine is Europe, but we have to do everything we can to make sure that we will hear a different wording: Ukraine is the EU.

Olga Lymar is the Executive Director of the Reanimation Package of Reforms Coalition, made up of leading non-governmental organizations and experts from all over Ukraine who have pooled their efforts to facilitate and implement reforms

Yurii Mykytiuk is the head of regional programs and deputy head of the department of advocacy and international relations at the Reanimation Package of Reforms Coalition.

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Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine at war, Ukraine recovery, Ukraine reforms, Volodymyr Zelenskyy