About 1,500 participants invited to Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin

Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"We expect about 1,500 participants," Schulze said.

She called the conference special because, in addition to government and business representatives, the organizers invited representatives of civil society and local government bodies.

Schulze emphasized the importance of involving society and local government in recovery efforts, because it is citizens, cities and municipal self-government bodies that are already taking matters into their own hands and they know exactly what is lacking on the ground. She recalled that more than 200 partnerships between Ukrainian and German cities and communities had already been established.

Schulze said that the URC does not aim to be a "conference of promises," but should influence various dimensions of reconstruction - from the economy to psychosocial support of Ukrainians.

With regard to finances for the reconstruction and support of Ukraine in general, Schulze emphasized the importance of pooling as many resources as possible, particularly seized Russian assets. She called the EU's agreement to use income from Russia's "immovable" assets, i.e. interest income, for the benefit of Ukraine a very good decision.

URC-2024 will be the third international recovery conference. The previous ones were held in Lugano, Switzerland, in 2022 and in London in 2023.