On 15 July 2025, UNP EaP CSF held an online discussion “Ukraine’s Recovery Vector: URC2025 Outcomes.”
It has become a good tradition for the Platform to review the outcomes of the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which serves as an important venue for supporting Ukraine and discussing the principles, directions, and forms of Ukraine’s reconstruction. This year, the conference took place on 10–11 July 2025 in Rome (Italy) and brought together over 6,000 participants from 70 countries worldwide. Around 200 agreements and memoranda were signed totalling approximately 11 billion euros.
The conference is not just about agreements and finance, but also about people connecting, establishing important contacts, and exchanging experience. That is why we invited speakers from various sectors to share their impressions, thoughts, and plans.
The discussion was moderated by Natalia Andrusevych, Coordinator of WG3 UNP EaP CSF and Chair of the Board of Resource and Analytical Centre “Society and Environment.”
Opening the event, Ihor Burakovsky, Chair of the Board of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, invited participants to share their vision of the conference and side events, emphasising that “we need not just to talk about recovery, but to start engaging in recovery.”
One direction that is very important in the context of reconstruction, which resonated at the conference through powerful and optimistic messages from both Ukrainian and European colleagues, was European integration. In particular, Oleksiy Ryabchyn, Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, noted: “Europeans have trust in Ukraine and in the reforms we’re implementing even during war.”
Ivan Nahorniak, Head of EU Accession Team at Easy Business, also noted both parties’ optimism regarding Ukraine’s future EU membership, but stressed he felt there was insufficient substantive discussion about Ukraine’s place in the EU in the context of accession and joining EU markets, which is one of the key issues for our recovery.
Halyna Vasylchenko, Member of Parliament, emphasised in her speech the importance of investment in Ukraine and the benefits of networking with Italian parliamentarians who can help advocate both for implementing sanctions against Russia and opening negotiation chapters.
Several speakers emphasised the important role of civil society, which came to the conference with very serious developments. Inna Pidluska, Deputy Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation, noted that the Recovery Conference is valuable as a cross-sectoral platform, and civil society brought not just developments, but concrete solutions ready for implementation.
Communities have been an important part of the conference for the second consecutive year. Oleksandr Solontay, Chair of the Board — Head of the Steering Committee of the Recovery and Development Agency, stressed that reconstruction must be carried out through diverse structures and decentralisation. In his view, the local community in recovery processes should be represented by at least three sectors: private sector, authorities, and civil society.
Volodymyr Shmatko, Mayor of Chortkiv, in turn noted that for him personally, URC is a unique and fantastic opportunity to communicate and establish connections with foreign partners, donors, government officials, and people in one location. Chortkiv itself presented two projects: an industrial park project and a water utility sale project.
Olena Kravchenko, Executive Director of International Charity Organisation “Environment-People-Law,” shared her main conclusion after URC: Ukraine is becoming a trend and a brand. Green recovery was lacking, although it is good we were represented in the European integration track, as the environmental sphere has perhaps the most European integration commitments. However, for the future, we would like to see not just political reports, but substantive discussions, Olena noted.
Oleksandra Betliy, Leading Research Fellow at the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, gave several practical tips on how to make recovery conferences better in the future: better coordination to avoid competing for the same audience; greater emphasis on defence and resilience; more time for networking (though for Ukrainians this can be done in Ukraine).
Marto Chumalo, Deputy Head of Women’s Perspectives Centre, noted that panels showed understanding of women’s involvement in reconstruction and recovery, but there was insufficient understanding of risks facing women, and particularly increased violence against women. Marta suggested it would be useful to have a pre-conference event to help align key messages.
Anton Antonenko, Vice President of DiXi Group, spoke about energy issues covered during URC: the National Energy and Climate Plan, investment prospects to fill the National Plan not just with objectives but also with finance, critical minerals, and the green platform. Anton noted: “We need to bring something to URC not in the format of questions, but in the format of answers that would engage discussion. URC should reveal Ukraine from a new and better perspective each time.”
Sintia Bernava, EaP CSF representative in the Ukraine-EU Civil Society Platform, shared information about a new competition for the public and encouraged taking advantage of this opportunity.
Ulrike Hopp-Nischanka, Head of the Ukraine Unit at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, stressed in her speech the importance of synergy between government, private sector, and civil society in reconstruction and resilience issues, and called for sharing feedback on initiatives implemented by the Ministry.
Information provided by Natalia Andrusevych, Resource and Analytical Centre “Society and Environment,” Coordinator of WG3 UNP EaP CSF
Discussion announcement
Discussion programme
Discussion video recording
The discussion highlighted the need for better coordination, more inclusive participation, and stronger international support for advancing Ukraine’s recovery and path to European integration.
Summarising the discussion, Natalia Andrusevych, Coordinator of WG3 UNP EaP CSF, who moderated the event, noted that is important to start preparing for the next conference and the Platform needs to incorporate this year’s conference results into its action plan.
The event was held within the project “Supporting the Activities of the Ukrainian National Platform of the EaP CSF in 2025–2026,” implemented by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting with financial support from the European Union. Individual opinions expressed at the event are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting.