Ukraine’s Vice PM: Defense, energy agreements being signed in Berlin today

That’s according to Yulia Svyrydenko, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, who commented on the latest news from the event, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to the official, already on the eve of the conference, 23 memorandums were signed with Japanese partners, on the first day of work the creation of the Skills Alliance was announced, an association of about 50 institutions aiming to retrain Ukrainians, with the budget of over EUR 700 million over the next three years.

"The issue related to the shortage of workers and structural unemployment is one of the top priorities of Ukrainian business," Svyrydenko said in this regard.

During Day 2, on June 12, a number of agreements will be signed, including in the defense industry, energy, as well as on financing the mortgage program, the deputy head of the government noted.

She drew attention to the fact that the motto of this year's Conference – "United in recovery, united in protection" – is different from the previous ones. Within the framework of the Conference, which has already become traditional, a special panel was set up, and many discussions were held on the topic of creating joint ventures in the field of defense industry and localization of arms production in Ukraine.

"For us, this is the main priority," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Energy recovery became the leitmotif of this year’s event.

"We are considering several options that we have discussed here with our partners. This includes the restoration of destroyed equipment and, in parallel lines, construction of new generation capacities, as well as an increase in imports from Europe (today they stand at 1.7 kilowatts). We have a request to our partners to consider the issue of increasing volumes, because for us it is critical, because it affects people's lives and the economy," Svyrydenko noted.

She recalled that, after the economy dropped by 30% in the first year of the war, last year it was possible to achieve 5% growth.

"This year we also hope for growth of at least 3.5%, but this indicator may be adjusted as the attacks on energy facilities and resources continue," the politician added.

She said it was critical to restore what had been destroyed in the energy sector before the start of the heating season and to attract new investors who will supply energy equipment to ensure macro stability next year.

More than 2,000 representatives, including heads of the energy industry and leading companies, are taking part in the URC 2024, which is being held in Berlin on June 11-12.