EBRD, WHO, OECD, Council of Europe, reps of IMF, World Bank, EIB and over 35 countries to take part in Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano
President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso, Secretary Generals of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann and the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić confirmed their participation in the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will be held in Lugano on July 4-5.
According to the materials released by the conference organizers, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be represented by Director of the European Department Alfred Kammer, the World Bank – Regional Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde, the European Investment Bank (EIB) – Vice President Teresa Czerwińska, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – Vice President Alfonso Garcia Mora.
In addition, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, UN System Coordinator in Ukraine Osnat Lubrani, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Afshan Khan, ICRC Operations Director for Europe and Central Asia Martin Schüepp will participate in the conference.
As reported, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will arrive at the conference, and separate countries will also be represented by their top leaders: Switzerland will be represented by President Ignazio Cassis, and Prime Ministers Mateusz Morawiecki, Piotr Fiala, Eduard Heger and Ingrida Šimonytė will represent Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania, which hosted a similar conference last year.
According to the materials, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will speak at the online conference. The Ukrainian delegation headed by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Head of the Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk also includes Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov and heads of six ministries: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Dmytro Kuleba, the Ministry of Energy – Herman Haluschenko, the Ministry of Infrastructure – Oleksandr Kubrakov, the Ministry of Natural Resources – Ruslan Strilets, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy – Mykola Solsky and the Ministry of Regional Development – Oleksiy Chernyshov.
As the Swiss Foreign Ministry reported on June 20, serious security measures would be taken during the conference. In particular, the Federal Council approved the auxiliary deployment of up to 1,600 military personnel, as well as a temporary restriction on the use of airspace. In cooperation with Italy, the Swiss Air Force will strengthen the air police service with combat aircraft and ground-based air defense systems.
At the conference, Ukraine will present its Recovery Plan for the first time and will consider other current proposals for the recovery of the country and the contribution that international partners can make. The agenda includes, inter alia, the priorities, methods and principles of reconstruction.
As the Swiss organizers noted, the Lugano Conference is not a donors' conference, however, it aims to highlight the broad support of international partners for the recovery process in Ukraine.
At the end of the two-day event, which will include a discussion of the ways and priorities of recovery by business, a declaration will be presented outlining the most important outcomes of the conference.
