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More recently Russia has started to target Ukraine large underground gas storage tanks that link Ukraine’s energy system with Europe’s. However, as these tanks are underground they are almost impervious to attack, although the pipeline links and compressor stations have been damaged.
"We must also implement a quick and inexpensive restoration of all energy facilities that can be restored before winter... We know how to ensure this," Zelenskiy said. He asked allies for equipment from decommissioned power plants and direct financial support to "preserve normal life." Kyiv plans to sign hundreds of agreements worth billions of euros with partners in the defence and energy sectors, Zelenskiy added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced at the conference that Kyiv would receive €1.5bn from Russian frozen assets revenue in July, and €1.9bn under the Ukraine Facility this month. "About €1.5bn of windfall revenue will be available as early as July - 90% of them will go to defence, 10% to restoration," she said.
"The new agreements consist of €1bn in credit guarantees and €400mn in mixed financial grants," the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine said.
Change of tone
This year’s Recovery conference was a lot more downbeat when compared to the London recovery conference held in London last June. At that event several prominent international leaders attended including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a show of solidarity. This year’s attendance was much thinner.
The disappointing muted tone of the Berlin conference of the Berlin Recovery conference is a prelude to the Swiss international Ukraine peace conference to be held next month, that is already considered to be a flop after key players like China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) have said they won’t attend and India has downgrade its presence to sending some low level diplomats. Even US President Joe Biden has skipped the event, preferring to do an election fundraising event in California instead and sending vice president Kamila Harris in his stead.
The theme of last year’s London Recovery conference was to persuade the private sector to step up and provide the hundreds of billions of dollars required to rebuild the country that has suffered around $450bn worth of damage. That effort appears to have been abandoned completely as unworkable and there was little emphasis on attracting the captains of industry to this event. Instead of talking about the hundreds of billions needed, the EU’s European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered a token €1.4bn that is less than the circa €5bn a month needed to cover the monthly budget deficits that Ukraine is currently running.
The parties also discussed Ukraine's expectations from the results of the Peace Summit in Switzerland, Zelenskiy said on X on Tuesday.
In separate conversations, fund managers and multinationals have told bne IntelliNews that while they agree that Ukraine has massive potential and many attractive sectors, investors require predictability and worry about the risk of
17 UKRAINE Country Report July 2024 www.intellinews.com