Ukraine’s Path Forward between Defense and Recovery

While Ukraine is still fighting a defensive war against the ongoing Russian aggression, the foundation for the reconstruction process has been laid by the Lugano Principles, launched at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in July of 2022. In January 2023, it was estimated that the total damage caused to Ukraine’s infrastructure was $138 billion. The World Bank has calculated that the reconstruction of Ukraine will cost about $411 billion for each year of the war – more than double Ukraine’s pre-war GDP. It is clear that this reconstruction effort will require immense private capital, but private investors are aware of the risks of war. Thus, a robust defense is one factor that can help enable investments, another one is offering political incentives for investments, such as war risk insurances.

In this Atlantik-Brücke Strategy Session, an event series that aims to give our members the opportunity to interact off-the-record with expert speakers on current affairs, we want to discuss the outlook for Ukraine’s military and reconstruction efforts in the coming months. What can and what should Ukraine’s allies do to help Ukraine build back its economy and become more resilient against the Russian aggression; and how can we think of defense and recovery as interdependent rather than mutually exclusive?

The speakers are:

• Maximilian Froch, Director of Strategic Program Organization International, Rheinmetall AG
• Olena Halushka, Co-Founder, International Centre for Ukrainian Victory; Board Member, Anti-Corruption Action Centre
• Hendrik Nolte, CEO, Nolte Services GmbH
• Gesine Weber, Research Analyst and Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States