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and another €27bn-€31bn in indirect benefits from Ukraine's convergence and integration with the EU.
In Latvia, opportunities during the reconstruction period were discussed at a workshop hosted by the Ministry of Finance in February.
“Ukraine’s post-war recovery and reconstruction needs are expected
to be extremely high – estimated at about $349bn. These funds will be needed to restore public services, repair damaged infrastructure and sustain economic activity through investments in agribusiness, manufacturing, infrastructure and many other areas. Private sector export-oriented companies across the world, including Latvia, can support Ukraine's reconstruction efforts by implementing projects financed and procured by the IFIs [international financial institutions], benefiting from a variety of financial and risk-sharing instruments,” said an announcement from AmCham Latvia, which participated in the workshop.
“The main objective of this workshop is to introduce the Latvian private sector to the IFI’s ... operations and upcoming reconstruction project pipeline in Ukraine, along with presenting IFI’s financial and risk-sharing instruments in Ukraine and other developing countries,” it added.
In one example, the chairman of the board of Latvijas Dzelzcels (Latvian Railways), Rinalds Plavnieks, said at
the end of March that the company
is “ready to continue supporting reconstruction of the Ukrainian rail industry”. The company took part in a meeting between Latvian and Ukrainian ministers and industry leaders in March, at which topics including opportunities for LDz to participate
in reconstruction of Ukrainian rail infrastructure were discussed.
Economic opportunities for Romania
Companies in Romania, the second- largest economy in the region after Poland, are also positioning themselves to get involved in the reconstruction effort.
In Romania, the Romania-Ukraine Bilateral Chamber of Commerce signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ukrainian embassy
in Bucharest in January to create a database of eligible companies for Ukraine's reconstruction projects.
The following month, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR) signed another MoU with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine to strengthen business relations and develop economic co-operation between the two states. The memorandum includes a new article on the joint management of
a platform to capitalise on economic opportunities related to the future reconstruction of Ukraine. CCIR will select Romanian companies with potential to meet the requirements launched by the Ukrainian side.
“Today, together with our Ukrainian colleagues, we laid the foundations for the creation of an integrated platform that will enable Romanian companies in the reconstruction effort that will follow. We are happy that we already have many signals from the business environment in Romania interested in participating in this process,” said the president of the CCIR, Mihai Daraban.
While less vocal than Poland on military support for Ukraine, Romania has already played an important
role in helping keep the Ukrainian
invitation to Bulgaria's then Prime Minister Kiril Petkov to participate
in Ukraine's post-war reconstruction programme, according to a statement from Bulgaria's Council of Ministers. The invitation was a “gesture of gratitude” for Bulgaria's support during the conflict, and will make Bulgaria one of the few countries to be included in the programme, it said at the time.
It later emerged that Bulgaria had secretly sent fuel and Soviet-calibre ammunition to Ukraine in the opening days of the war.
However, the strongly pro-Ukraine coalition government led by Petkov collapsed in mid-2022 and was replaced by a caretaker government appointed by President Rumen Radev, who has become increasingly Russia-oriented since the invasion. Sofia’s future course is unclear, as the country has just held its fifth general election in two years, with no immediate prospect of a new government being formed.
Small countries seek to get involved
Even the smaller countries in the
region, among them Slovenia with a population of just over 2mn, are eyeing reconstruction opportunities in Ukraine.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob visited Ukraine on March 31 to express political support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people amid the ongoing Russian military aggression, but he also
“Ukraine’s post-war recovery and reconstruction needs are expected to be extremely high – estimated at about $349bn”
economy going by opening up its Port of Constanta to exporters of Ukrainian grain and other products. Constanta handled a record amount of goods in 2022 after Ukrainian grain and other goods passed through the port.
Bulgaria’s relationship with Ukraine is more complicated. Shortly after the invasion, Zelenskiy extended an
stressed Ljubljana’s interest in getting involved in the reconstruction.
During the talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Golob said that Slovenia is interested in co-operating in the recovery of Ukraine and is ready to engage in the reconstruction of the Kharkiv region, especially the city of Izium.
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