Because it’s never too early to think about the post-war period. The reconstruction of Ukraine, of its roads, its bridges, its hospitals, its transport infrastructure will last decades: it is a challenge that begins now, in the same way that we did not wait for the end of the Second World War to reflect on the recovery of the European economy. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks of a “21st Century Marshall Plan“, the President of the European Commission with a necessary gesture of solidarity.
The conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine is the affirmation that the free & democratic nations of this world stand together, and that they defend their values.
The declaration of @vonderleyen on the occasion of the international conference #RecoveryOfUkraine ↓ pic.twitter.com/xNX9Arm3Nz
— European Commission (@UEFrance) October 25, 2022
Concretely, how much do you need? “350 billion euros“, says the World Bank, but this amount does not take into account either the fighting that destroyed a large number of industrial cities in the Donbass, or the systematic Russian attacks on energy installations. This will be more obviously. kyiv for its part talks about 750 billion dollars.
But Ukraine will also need help very quickly for its daily functioning. Volodymyr, who intervened by video on Tuesday, October 25, asked for 38 billion to be able to continue to finance salaries (of teachers, doctors), social benefits and pensions…
Who will get their hands on the wallet? The Americans, of course: since the start of the war, they have been the biggest donors, in terms of financial, material and humanitarian aid. The Europeans too, Germany in the lead. Berlin is today among the 27 the country which spends the most for Ukraine.
The difficulty is that many states have gone into debt to deal with Covid and the energy crisis. But to finance the reparations one could also dip into Russian assets that have been frozen under international sanctions. That’s Zelensky’s great hope. There are, according to him, for 300 to 500 billion dollars. Except that there is currently no legal mechanism that validates this kind of thing.
All this money, in any case, it will have to be channeled, organized to prevent it from evaporating into bribes like in Afghanistan. Whether it will be donations or loans, nothing is fixed. But the European Commission is laying down its milestones to coordinate this major project and not lose “leadership”.
The fact that Ukraine wishes to be part of the Union is an additional argument. Since June, it has the status of a candidate country. Investing in a future partner who will ultimately be part of the internal market is also in the well-understood interest of Europeans. The third edition of this international conference will take place in early 2023 in the United Kingdom.