Reconstruction of Ukraine is “common task” of the democratic world, says Zelensky

Ukraine’s reconstruction is a “common task” of the democratic world, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday during the opening statement of the “Ukraine Recovery Conference” in Lugano, Switzerland – a conference of two days that aims to define a roadmap for the reconstruction of Ukraine after the invasion of Russia.

“The reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local project. It is not a project of one nation, but a common task of the entire democratic world, all countries that can say they are civilized,” Zelensky said in the virtual speech.

The Ukrainian president also said that restoring his country means restoring the principle of life, “restoring the space of life, restoring everything that makes humans human”.

This reconstruction also implies “an opportunity for our countries, our companies and our experts to show why freedom is more powerful than any tyranny,” he added.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced on Monday that the European Union (EU) has proposed the creation of a reconstruction platform to help the Ukrainian government rebuild the country after the war with Russia.

The European Commission has proposed to the government of Ukraine to create a reconstruction platform to map investment needs, coordinate actions, channel resources and, of course, support an ambitious reform agenda,” Von der Leyen said during the opening ceremony. of the Ukraine recovery conference.
“This platform will be the place to shape strategic directions and priorities for our common work,” he added.

Von der Leyen also said that the platform “will focus on future-proof reconstruction, moving towards climate neutrality, embracing the digital decade.” [e] building a social market economy that leaves no one behind”.

She went on to say that the Kremlin’s aim is to “undermine Ukraine’s very existence as a state”, the “military, political and economic destruction” of the country and that the European Union “will never let that happen”.

Von der Leyen added that the EU had already mobilized €6.2 billion in financial support and that “more has to come and more will come”.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reiterated the need for financial assistance in his speech at the conference, saying the country’s recovery plan will cost about $750 billion. Shmyhal said confiscated Russian assets should be an important source of funding.

“Who should pay for the recovery plan that is already estimated at $750 billion? We believe that the main source of recovery must be the confiscated assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs. The Russian authorities unleashed this bloody war. They caused this massive destruction and they should be held accountable for it,” Shmyhal said during the conference, adding that “Russia’s frozen assets, by various estimates, range from $300 billion to $500 billion.”

According to the Ukrainian prime minister, other sources of funding for the recovery plan should include grants and soft loans from international financial organizations and partner countries, private sector investments and off-budget contributions from individuals and companies, as well as budget funds. Ukraine’s own.

The prime minister also said that Ukraine’s direct infrastructure losses amount to more than $100 billion.

“More than 1,200 educational institutions, more than 200 hospitals, thousands of kilometers of gas pipelines, water and electricity networks, roads and railways were destroyed or damaged,” Shmyhal said.