The general partner of the Forum was the construction company "Kreator-Bud", strategic partners - LLC "Envitek", developers "Intergal-Bud", "Nove Stolittya", Royal House. Official partner support of the event: Penetron Ukraine, LLC "Wurt-Ukraine", DP Caparol Ukraine, "Ministry of Doors", LLC "FARBY KOLORIT". Financial partner: Globus Bank.
The goal of the Forum is to bring together representatives of the government, communities, the construction community, and business in a dialogue to discuss current challenges and coordinate efforts to rebuild Ukraine.
The Forum program consisted of three thematic parts with speeches by speakers.
First block: "Restoring the Housing Stock: How to Balance the Needs of the State, Communities, and Business."
Second block: "Rebuilding critical and social infrastructure: from comfort to security."
The third block, the final one: "Investing in recovery: the potential for communities and businesses."
The goal of this, the second meeting of the Recovery Construction Forum Ukraine, organized by the KBU, is to provide specialists with a high-quality platform for networking, create a dialogue between the authorities, community representatives, and the construction community, combine their efforts and experience for reconstruction, and consider implemented cases.
The event was opened by Oleksandr Chervak, Executive Director of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, and Olena Kononenko, Director of the ReBuild Ukraine/Aquatherm Kyiv exhibition.
The range of issues discussed at the Forum included: housing provision (construction and reconstruction, mortgages, social housing); community development, security and restoration of critical and social infrastructure; areas for effective investment, public and private support programs, and attracting capital to Ukraine.
PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA together with ProfBuild, Build Portal, RBC-Ukraine, ZPP Union, Academy DTEK, International Chamber of Commerce of Ukraine ICC UKRAINE acted as media partners of the Forum. Editor-in-Chief PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA Konstantin Kovshevatsky also moderated a panel discussion on the reconstruction of critical and social infrastructure and took part in the presentation of the new project "Architectural Navigator". But first things first.
Oleksandr Chervak, Executive Director of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, and Olena Kononenko, Director of the ReBuild Ukraine/Aquatherm Kyiv exhibition
The audience was addressed with welcoming remarks by Oleksandr Chervak, Executive Director of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, and Olena Kononenko, director of the ReBuild Ukraine/Aquatherm Kyiv exhibition. Oleksandr Chervak said that this year the Forum has a special social goal - with the support of the event's participating partners, financial assistance will be provided for the restoration of several infrastructure facilities.
Olena Kononenko reminded: Recovery Construction Forum Ukraine is the Ukrainian part of the global international event ReBuild Ukraine, organized by the exhibition company Premier Expo, which takes place every year. She thanked the attendees for their contribution to the recovery of Ukraine and invited them to join this year's Rebuild Ukraine exhibition in Warsaw, scheduled for November 13-14.
The first discussion, "Restoring the Housing Stock: How to Balance the Needs of the State, Communities, and Business," was moderated by Lev Partskhaladze, President of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, and Ivan Slobodianyk, Executive Director of the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities.
Lev Partskhaladze, President of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, moderated the first block of the Forum "Restoration of the Housing Stock: How to Balance the Needs of the State, Communities, and Business"
The participants of the dialogue were: Olena Shulyak, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, Chairman of the Servant of the People party, Yevhen Metzger, Chairman of the Board of PJSC "Ukrfinzhytlo", Dmytro Cheychuk, First Deputy Mayor of Bucha, Iryna Zakharchenko, acting head of the village of Borodyanka, Alexander Kharchenko, Vice-President of the KBU and Head of the KBU Representative Office in Kharkiv, Alina Moskalenko, head of the Housing Institute, Yevgeny Treskunov, Housing Advisor, UNHCR, Anna Laevskaya, commercial director of Intergal-Bud and chairman of the KBU Committee on Development, Oleksiy Bilokon, commercial director of the Royal House group of companies, Igor Huda, founder of the construction company "Kreator-Bud".
As part of the Forum, a new initiative of the KBU was presented - "Architectural Navigator", a catalog of typical architectural solutions for the restoration of social infrastructure, which will be compiled for communities
Lev Partskhaladze: "Despite the challenges, staff shortages, complex logistics and high risks, Ukrainian builders demonstrate extraordinary professionalism, endurance and the ability to adapt quickly. This is our main asset"
President of the KBU Lev Partskhaladze welcomed the audience and presented a new initiative — "Architectural Navigator", which represents catalog of typical architectural solutions for social infrastructure.
Together with PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA Editor-in-Chief Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky, they explained how the project can become a pillar for regional reconstruction.
"Architectural Navigator" is a library of projects for infrastructure buildings for communities, such as security centers, clinics, hospitals, ASCs, schools, and kindergartens
According to Partskhaladze, it is a library of projects for infrastructure buildings needed by communities, such as security centers, clinics, hospitals, ASCs, schools, and kindergartens. The main goal is to build quickly, with high quality, and at optimal cost.
"The projects will be posted on official state portals so that each community can take them, adapt them if necessary, and save time and money. They will incorporate modern technologies and solutions," the KBU president explained and invited the experts present to join the initiative.
Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky said: the idea of creating such a catalog arose in 2016, when, as part of the educational reform, the development of solutions for rural schools began (the project "New Educational Space"). The key principles of the project were energy efficiency and modern equipment that ensures barrier-free access. These same values have been transferred to the new project "Architectural Navigator".
"We strive to create a library with dozens of proven design solutions with different functional scenarios, for different numbers of people, different climate zones. These are schools or kindergartens, outpatient clinics with appropriate functional content. All with calculated designs, estimates, adaptation to the State Building Code and the possibility of modifications," he explains.
According to Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky, communities will be able to use these projects without additional costs for the architectural part, take them as a basis, adapt them, and launch tenders for implementation.
"The goal of creating the catalog is not mechanical unification. It is improving the quality of life through efficiency, accessibility, and transparency of processes. We want to convey that today, good architecture is not a luxury, it is an interface that makes spaces intuitive and friendly," the editor-in-chief of PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA explained the tasks of the future service.
Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky: "We write a lot about what is happening with architecture and urbanism in the regions. We can say that there is a main feature: even with the availability of funds, there are not always enough competencies. It is this problem, among others, that we must solve with this initiative."
Chairman of the Board of PJSC "Ukrfinzhytlo" Yevhen Metsger commented on the implementation of the e-Housing program
Moving on to the discussion, the first to be heard was the Chairman of the Board of Ukrfinzhytlo PJSC. Eugene Metzger, who commented on the implementation of the e-Housing program.
He noted: over the past two years, eOselya has covered 97% of the mortgage market. Despite the war and the fact that the program is not available to all categories of citizens and does not cover all needs, it has made the market larger. Thus, in 2024, mortgages worth UAH 15 billion were issued.
Metzger reminded that Ukrfinzhytlo is not financed from the budget and raises funds on the open market. The transparency of mortgage instruments, digitalization and the responsibility of citizens in repaying loan obligations have allowed us to build communication with partners from abroad about attracting funds from foreign financial institutions. This is good for the development of the program and would allow us to scale up the issuance of mortgages. Work is currently underway with the IMF on adapting the company's strategy.
The head of Ukrfinzhitl noted that eOselya will continue to focus on the primary market.
The first block of the Forum discussed housing provision (construction and restoration of destroyed buildings, mortgages, social housing)
"More than 100 developers have been accredited in the banking system, a new era of relations between banks and developers has begun. I hope that the next step will be financing developers, and it will become easier for them to attract resources to new projects. After the latest changes to our program for the first quarter of 2025, 54% of loans were issued for the purchase of apartments from developers. At the beginning of the program, this ratio was about 10%," he concluded.
Ivan Slobodianyk, Executive Director of the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities, thanked for the initiative "Architectural Navigator" and invited the authors of the idea and those present to the general meeting of the Association of Communities on May 16 to get acquainted with local issues in more detail. He says: The All-Ukrainian Association of Communities unites 903 local governments, these are mostly small communities, for which recovery is not only housing construction, but also a huge range of economic recovery - infrastructure, recycling, etc.
Slobodianyk invited Dmytro Cheychuk, the first deputy mayor of Bucha, to talk about the progress of the restoration of the Bucha community.
Dmytro Cheychuk, First Deputy Mayor of Bucha, and Iryna Zakharchenko, Acting Mayor of Borodyanka, spoke about the progress of recovery in the communities
According to Cheychuk, more than 3800 objects were damaged in the district, 2700 of which have been restored to date, and about 1000 still need attention.
The key to effectiveness, according to a local government representative, is a proactive position: participation in programs, grants, and communication with potential domestic and foreign partners.
Dmytro Cheychuk says that over time, the priorities of reconstruction change. In the context of Bucha, three years ago, there was more talk about housing so that people could return and live in their homes. Today, infrastructure facilities, projects in the energy sector, water supply, and logistics come to the fore, so that this life is dignified.
At the same time, the housing restoration program continues, Cheychuk speaks about the demand: community residents have received certificates for destroyed property to finance the purchase of other housing for more than 500 million UAH and are using them. At the same time, the deputy mayor drew attention to the nuances of receiving compensation for the reconstruction of housing on their own land plot - this stage isReconstruction is being launched. It is difficult to purchase housing from developers and put it into operation if the object is not registered in the State Register of Property Rights. Because of this, despite a number of objects that exist or are being built, people cannot always use them and are forced to leave the community.
Iryna Zakharchenko, acting head of the Borodyanka village, recalled that the Borodyanka community was the first in the Kyiv region to meet the enemy in 2022, many objects were damaged. She states: a number of mistakes were made in the reconstruction of past years due to the lack of a roadmap, lack of experience and opportunities. Borodyanka is less developed than neighboring Bucha or Irpin, but it is able to catch up with them.
Iryna Zakharchenko: "Today, there is not a single community leader who would not dream of rebuilding the community within the framework of "better than it was", so that people would stay in it, and for this they would have the opportunity to work and relax"
She said that a survey was conducted among residents in Borodyanka to determine the vision for the development of the village for the next 10 years. The reconstruction of the housing stock is currently being carried out under government programs (67 apartment buildings have been destroyed in the village, 80 in the community), and foreign partners are also participating in the reconstruction of infrastructure facilities.
Iryna Zakharchenko emphasized that even if modern infrastructure facilities are created in small communities, it will be difficult to attract highly qualified specialists in the absence of decent wages. However, providing affordable social housing can be a powerful incentive for them.
Alina Moskalenko, head of the Housing Institute, founded at the initiative of the Norwegian Refugee Council, outlined the obstacles that separate Ukrainians from affordable social housing.
Continuing the theme of social housing, Alina Moskalenko, the head of the recently established Housing Institute, told what tasks this new structure for Ukraine is working on. The Housing Institute was founded at the initiative of the Norwegian Refugee Council. The goal is to support the government of Ukraine, state authorities and local governments in developing legislative changes, supporting the housing reform, which is very timely in Ukraine. Recently, the Institute's experts presented a study of the Ukrainian municipal housing stock. Moskalenko noted: unlike most European countries, where municipal, communal housing is the basis of housing policy, in Ukraine it is practically absent. At the same time, the municipal housing stock is inextricably linked with social housing.
Alina Moskalenko outlined the obstacles that separate Ukrainians from high-quality and affordable social housing. This is a shortage of personnel and specialized municipal institutions, the lack of housing programs and expenditures for them in communities. The very definition of social or communal housing as meters for the most vulnerable or insolvent categories of the population should be transformed. It should be replaced by the concept of rental housing, which is provided on the basis of affordable rent for a wide category of people or subsidized for certain individuals.
Alina Moskalenko: "Unlike most European countries, where municipal, communal housing is the basis of housing policy, in Ukraine it is practically absent"
Forum experts discussed the problem of housing affordability and the progress of housing reform
The head of the Housing Institute mentioned the draft Law on the Basic Principles of Housing Policy No. 12377, which received favorable reviews from abroad and could move the situation for the better, towards the formation of reimbursable and effective models of social housing in Ukraine.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning Olena Shulyak says that owning one's own home is an important component of a decent life for Ukrainians and a motive that encourages them to return to the country. The existing Housing Code is outdated and should be abolished. Commenting on draft law No. 12377, mentioned by Alina Moskalenko, which was joined by many international partners, she noted: it was adopted, but did not receive proper support from the ministry and is currently not under consideration.
Speech by Olena Shulyak, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, Chair of the Servant of the People Party, on Housing Reform
Olena Shulyak drew attention to the fact that the information used for the draft law on housing queues, demographics, and the number of IDPs is outdated or incomplete. Therefore, making decisions and formulating policies on their basis can lead to managerial errors. At the same time, the authors of the draft law have taken many important steps and described the creation of a state information and analytical housing system — a single information base that can truly become the basis of Ukrainian housing reform.
According to Shulyak, cooperation with the World Bank is also an important work in the direction of reform. Currently, its experts are analyzing the regulatory environment in Ukraine and providing recommendations on modern housing policy. An interdepartmental working group has been created under the government to work on these recommendations. The head of the Servant of the People party also called the revision of the state anti-corruption program and the creation of new urban planning documentation important points.
Ivan Slobodianyk addressed the Oleksandra Kharchenko, vice-president of the KBU and head of the KBU representative office in the Kharkiv region, with a question about how the city is living now and whether it is appropriate to talk about reconstruction in the context of constant attacks.
Oleksandr Kharchenko, Vice President of the KBU and Head of the KBU Representative Office in the Kharkiv Region, spoke about the situation in the city
The expert spoke about the Kharkiv realities using the example of one of the oldest and most experienced developers in Kharkiv, JSC “Trest Zhytlobud-1”. Before the full-scale war, the company built and sold 5–5,5 thousand apartments per year, but now most of the projects are related to the restoration of the energy sector and buildings, and the company is also building underground schools. Oleksandr Kharchenko notes that about 500 houses in Kharkiv need restoration and, unfortunately, their number is increasing. Almost every restoration requires adjusting the documentation, which costs additional budget funds and time, and this aspect should be optimized.
New apartments in Kharkiv are sold through e-Housing, e-Reconstruction, and the city's subsidized housing program, but the scale of sales is hundreds of times smaller than before the Great War.
Kharchenko drew attention to new buildings in which housing is partially sold out, but due to the war, sales have stopped, and owners and developers have become hostages of the situation. Such housing could be bought out by the state or the city and turned into rental housing. He also speaks of the need to create conditions for developers and potential buyers of housing that would help sell unfinished houses.
(From left to right) Oleksiy Bilokon, commercial director of the Royal House group of companies, and Ihor Guda, founder of Kreator-Bud, are experts in capital rapid construction
Igor Huda, founder of Creator-Bud, spoke about the company's strategies and the possibilities of rapid capital construction. Regarding the latter, according to the expert, Ukraine has enormous opportunities for implementing this system. For this, it is necessary that acts and norms correspond to innovative projects. The second, "institutional" approach is to create centers where modern technologies of rapid construction will be taught. The most important condition, according to Igor Guda, concerns the allocation of plots and building permits, because now they take more time than the direct construction of the building. The founder of Creator-Bud believes that a special status and simplified procedures can be applied to such projects.
He says: "Buildings built using modern rapid construction technologies are typically energy-efficient. Such projects are attractive to socially responsible foreign investors."
Igor Guda also shared with the audience insights into the changing behavior of buyers after a full-scale invasion, which developers should take into account. People no longer want to live in tall buildings, because in the absence of light, elevators do not work, and higher floors are also felt to be more vulnerable. High-quality and safe social infrastructure and storage facilities are important.
Anna Laevska, commercial director of Intergal-Bud and head of the KBU Committee on Development, spoke about the state of the real estate market
Anna Laevskaya, commercial director of Intergal-Bud and head of the KBU Committee on Development, stated: the Ukrainian real estate market is living in difficult conditions, sales in the past 2024 compared to the pre-war 2021 are about 17% of the number and value of apartments sold. However, large companies that have stocks of ready-made housing and are accredited to participate in the state mortgage are feeling better.
The expert provided statistics on housing losses due to the war and outlined the problem of housing affordability: for example, out of 4 million IDPs, 2/3 cannot use the e-Housing program due to age or income. The situation could be improved by providing social housing for rent or with its subsequent purchase. According to Anna Laevska, there is no need to build such housing in Ukraine now; unsold meters on the market can fulfill this function. She told how such mechanisms work in Europe.
Anna Laevska: "The function of social housing for rent or with subsequent purchase could be performed by unsold housing that is on the market"
The 1st block of the Forum was concluded by comments from the commercial director of the Royal House group of companies Alexey Belokonya and Housing Advisor to the UN Refugee Agency Evgenia Treskunova.
Yevhen Treskunov, Housing Advisor at the UN Refugee Agency, reported on UNHCR's work in Ukraine and provided statistics on households that received assistance.
Oleksiy Bilokon noted the growth in the use of prefab construction in Europe and, for example, Canada. Royal House has a patented technology for rapid capital construction and occupies a leading position in this segment on the domestic market. Modern materials allow you to reduce construction times, optimize funds and human resources in conditions of their shortage, and control the quality of processes. Currently, they also give confidence to the customer and buyer that the project will not stop. Bilokon gave examples of residential facilities implemented by Royal House in the Kyiv region: almost all buildings in the complex are put into operation ahead of schedule. The commercial director of the Royal House group of companies urged not to be afraid of modern standard projects and prefab technologies, because they are safe, energy-efficient, and high-tech.
Yevhen Treskunov told the audience about how the work of the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine is structured and how the offices function to provide assistance in the field of housing and social infrastructure restoration. He emphasizes the large volumes of assistance that Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region currently need. The expert explained that in the engineering and construction sector, the Agency provides assistance in three areas: these are quick repairs, for which materials are purchased and ready-made kits are created; mobile repair teams that travel to the site of destruction; and housing repairs for IDPs. Treskunov provided statistics: over 3 years, almost 190 thousand households and 1890 social infrastructure facilities (half of them are educational institutions) have received assistance to repair damage.
The expert spoke about UNHCR's synergy with government initiatives, such as eRecovery, to synchronize and complement the recovery mechanisms offered by the state to the population.
"Over 3 years, almost 190 thousand households and 1890 social infrastructure facilities have received assistance to repair damage from UNHCR," — Yevhen Treskunov
The second block of the Forum began with a dialogue on the restoration of healthcare facilities. The conversation was moderated by the Executive Director of the KBU, Oleksandr Chervak.
(From left to right) Yuriy Sverba, Deputy Head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development of Ukraine, and Ihor Kuzin, Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine, HEAL Project Coordinator, participated in a dialogue on the restoration of healthcare facilities
Igor Kuzin, Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine, Coordinator of the HEAL project, told the audience about the HEAL framework project "Strengthening the Health Care System and Saving Lives", which is being implemented by the Ministry of Health with the World Bank. The project is aimed at restoring and improving access to basic medical services, ensuring financial protection in emergency situations; it also provides for a set of measures to restore, modernize and increase the efficiency of medical institutions. This includes reconstruction, overhaul of selected hospitals, construction of new buildings. The total cost of the project is $ 500 million. Currently, about 600 medical institutions that needed assistance due to damage or destruction have been restored within the project. Kuzin spoke about the facilities for the treatment and rehabilitation of Ukrainians that will be reconstructed within the framework of HEAL in 2025, and the conditions for participating in tenders.
Yuriy Sverba, Deputy Head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development of Ukraine, reported on the structure and current work of the agency, outlined a map of infrastructure facilities with which the agency is currently working, including Yagidne, Borodyanka, Trostyanets, Posad-Pokrovske, Tsyrkuny, Mykolaiv region. The priority for 2025 is the start of construction of social housing in various regions of Ukraine (first - 6 thousand, in total - about 50 thousand apartments), replacement of street lighting in communities, implementation of an electronic contracting system designed to optimize work with data for contracts and ensure transparency - from the preparation of tender documentation to the closing of acts of completed work.
The moderator of the discussion panel of the second block of the Forum was Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky.
The moderator of the discussion panel on the restoration of critical and social infrastructure was Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky, editor-in-chief of PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA.
The speakers were Kateryna Yaroshenko, UNDP GTP Financial Expert, Tatyana Korotka, Deputy Business Ombudsman, Dmytro Novitsky, president of the Association "Ukrvodokanalekologiya", Angela Makeeva, Acting Mayor of Irpin - Secretary of the Irpin City Council, Tetyana Stolyarenko, advisor to the mayor of Kharkiv, Alexey Popov, chief architect of Envitech.
Kateryna Yaroshenko presented the features of UNDP technical support within the framework of the implementation of the Ukraine Early Recovery Program (UERP) and Ukraine Recovery Program (URP) subprojects.
Ukraine's recovery programs are financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The expert noted that on April 9, an agreement on additional financing for recovery was signed between Ukraine and the EIB leadership.
The 3rd stage of the Ukraine Recovery Program is currently being implemented. As part of the first selection through the state digital ecosystem DREAM, 131 projects were identified for it.
Kateryna Yaroshenko, UNDP GTP Financial Expert, presented the features of UNDP technical support within the framework of the implementation of subprojects for the recovery
Priority areas in the competition: construction and placement of gas piston and gas turbine plants and cogeneration block-modular boiler houses; construction, reconstruction and overhaul of communal housing facilities; modernization of water supply and sewage systems; reconstruction of medical institutions.
The expert invited the professional audience and community representatives to participate in the subprojects of the OGP III, explained the selection conditions and requirements for tender documentation.
«The approaches to reconstruction by the authorities and participants could be divided into two categories: the critical that needs to be restored as soon as possible, and more global strategies for the future.", — Tatyana Korotka
The topic of the report of the Deputy Business Ombudsman Tatyana Korotkaya was the involvement of the private sector in the recovery processes.
The 2nd block of the Forum was attended by Dmytro Novytskyi, President of the Association "Ukrvodokanalekologiya", Tetyana Korotka, Deputy Business Ombudsman, and Anzhela Makeeva, Acting Mayor of Irpin - Secretary of the Irpin City Council
Tetyana Korotka draws attention to the fact that approaches to reconstruction by the authorities and participants could be divided into two categories - this is what is critical, which must be restored as soon as possible, and more global strategies for the future, such as Build Back Better. For non-urgent tasks, projects can be collected and pipelines created for selection at the local and state levels, but for the restoration of critical infrastructure, which is mainly handled by local companies due to security risks, it is worth optimizing tender processes and documentation, and payment mechanisms. To do this, it is necessary to review the procedures for the period of martial law, because they currently hinder business participation. The relevant reports and proposals were published by the Business Ombudsman Council.
Dmytro Novitsky, president of the Association "Ukrvodokanalekologiya", says that 25 thousand km of engineering networks were lost due to the war, which is about 10% of the total number in Ukraine. At the same time, the exact figure is unknown, because pipes are also destroyed due to vibration during shelling. Water supply and sewage are critically important for the life of communities and need to be restored as soon as possible.
Given the huge number of facilities that require special approaches to work, and safety risks, Novytsky emphasizes the need to simplify the procedures for the restoration and commissioning of water supply and wastewater facilities. This primarily concerns design requirements and compliance with the State Building Code. The operating costs of water utilities require optimization.
Dmytro Novitsky: "Ch25 thousand km of engineering networks were lost due to the war, which is about 10% of the total in Ukraine.»
Angela Makeeva, Acting Mayor - Secretary of the Irpin City Council, shared her experience in restoring social infrastructure in Irpin, where 70% of the following facilities were damaged: 13 kindergartens, 10 schools, 10 outpatient clinics, 6 secondary medical institutions, cultural and sports facilities. Currently, the vast majority of them have already been restored. Makeeva emphasized that restoring social infrastructure is a key task for people to return to the cities.
UAH 1149,77 million was raised for the reconstruction of social and critical infrastructure. Of this amount, regional programs covered 4,35%, state programs — 30,34%, and charitable programs — 65,32%.
The Acting Mayor of Irpin states: attracting resources for reconstruction depends on effective interaction between the community, local authorities and the state, business, foreign partners and funds. This allows us to implement not only critically needed, but also significant, large-scale projects for the city, such as recreational projects and those that memorialize the struggle of residents and resistance to the enemy.
Tetyana Stolyarenko, advisor to the mayor of Kharkiv, informed the audience about the damage to social infrastructure and the security priorities of local authorities in the restoration
Tetyana Stolyarenko, advisor to the mayor of Kharkiv, informed the audience about the situation in the city: currently there are 4,5 thousand damaged residential buildings, which is almost half of the city's housing stock. Destruction is in almost every district of the city, with Saltivka suffering the most.
Tetyana Stolyarenko emphasized that safety is the main priority for Kharkiv projects, this is the reality of the city now. This is where underground schools operate.
The restoration of infrastructure projects is critically important for creating comfortable conditions for 1,3 million residents of Kharkiv, of which 206 thousand are officially registered IDPs. The advisor to the mayor shared information on the opportunities for architects, construction companies, and businesses to participate in competitions held by the Kharkiv City Council for reconstruction.
«Safety is the top priority for Kharkiv projects, this is the reality of the city now", — Tetyana Stolyarenko
Chief Architect of Envitech Alexey Popov noted: the company has been engaged in industrial engineering, development of projects in the energy and industry sectors for over 30 years, paying great attention to energy-saving technologies and renewable energy sources. During the war, this also included the construction of residential and public infrastructure facilities. This experience gives an understanding: the development of the country is possible only with an integrated approach.
Oleksiy Popov, Chief Architect of Envitech LLC, spoke about a comprehensive approach to restoring critical and social infrastructure
The complex should include a combination of traditional and modern approaches in architecture, modern solutions for engineering support of territories, the use of energy-saving technologies, and security. Separately, the chief architect of Envitech emphasized the security component for power and heating plants. He also shared his experience in developing several conceptual projects for the city of Trostyanets in Sumy region.
Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky invited the experts to later continue the conversation about aspects of infrastructure reconstruction on the PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA platform.
Experts participating in the 3rd block of the Forum "Investing in Recovery: Potential for Communities and Business"
The 3rd block of the Forum, dedicated to investments and attracting capital to Ukraine, was attended by Natalia Pereheida, Deputy Head of the Department of Industrial Parks and Investment Support of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, Valery Kyrylko, CEO of the Industrial Parks of Ukraine Group of Companies, Gennady Chizhikov, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine, Oleksandr Melnychenko, Acting Executive Director of UkraineInvest, Serhiy Voitsekhovsky, Member of the Board of Directors of BGV Group Management, Yaroslav Horbushko, Director of the Capital Markets Department of CBRE Ukraine, Natalia Hryshchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Head of the "Ukraine Reconstruction Team".
Moderated the discussion Pavel Kozyrev, head of the Association of Small Towns of Ukraine, and Vitaly Vereshchagin, CEO of Caparol Ukraine.
The range of issues discussed by experts included: investments in Ukraine as a potential for access to the sales market, state and non-state programs to support the investment climate, mechanisms for attracting capital, and ways to increase the investment attractiveness of Ukraine in the current period and in the short term.
Natalia Pereheida spoke about state support for investment projects, which was launched in 2024. This business support program provides a number of benefits: exemption from paying certain taxes and fees, exemption from import duties on new equipment and machinery, provision of preferential land use rights, compensation for the investor's connection costs, compensation for engineering and transport infrastructure facilities built by the applicant or investor, exemption from compensation for losses in forestry production.
Natalia Perekheyda, Deputy Head of the Department of Industrial Parks and Investment Support of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, and Valeriy Kyrylko, CEO of the Industrial Parks of Ukraine Group of Companies
The total cost of such support can reach 30% of capital investments (CAPEX). According to Natalia Perekheyda, the budget for 2025 for the implementation of this program is UAH 500 million.
The Deputy Head of the Department of Industrial Parks and Investment Support of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine explained how industrial parks work, what benefits and support they provide for participants, and what are the advantages for the communities in which they operate. Today, there are about 100 industrial parks in different regions of Ukraine.
The head of the Association of Small Towns of Ukraine, co-moderator of the discussion Pavlo Kozyrev called industrial parks "the locomotive of local economic development" and invited to the conversation Valeria Kyrylka, CEO of the Industrial Parks of Ukraine Group of Companies.
The expert said that with the help of the Industrial Parks of Ukraine Group, 33 parks were registered, the group of companies provides support for 28 parks, and acts as a management company for 7.
"Industrial parks are essentially a free economic zone in miniature. A designated area where appropriate government incentives or tax incentives apply," he says.
Valeriy Kyrylko explained the rules by which industrial parks are created, spoke about Ukrainian specifics and current trends in the field: rapid growth, the emergence of private industrial parks, specialized clusters, the trend towards environmental friendliness and eco-industrial parks.
Yaroslav Horbushko, Director of the Capital Markets Department at CBRE Ukraine, spoke about investments in warehouse and industrial real estate. The discussion is moderated by Vitaly Vereshchagin, CEO of Caparol Ukraine
Yaroslav Horbushko, Director of the Capital Markets Department of CBRE Ukraine, gave a short report on strategic investments in commercial, warehouse and industrial real estate during a period of uncertainty and shared analytics of the warehouse segment over the past year.
He said that the commercial real estate market has changed a lot in the last five years, starting with the pandemic. The models of space use have been revised. Warehouse and industrial real estate has experienced unprecedented changes since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
The expert called sustainability (because more than 20% of market players left due to occupation or destruction, but demand remained) and renewability the most important trends in industrial and warehouse real estate.
Yaroslav Horbushko: "The warehouse and industrial real estate market has significant prospects for development and is attractive for investment"
Gorbushko noted: local and foreign companies are actively investing in the purchase of existing warehouses, production facilities, land plots and damaged facilities. The market has significant prospects for development and is attractive for investment.
Many at the Forum talked about assessing investment opportunities in Ukraine for international business, attracting partners to the reconstruction
Natalia Hryshchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Board of AHK Ukraine and Head of the “Ukraine Reconstruction Team”, says that turbulent times are a time when chambers and associations are activated to support business, advocate for interests, and unite for common goals. Now such a goal is a quick reconstruction. Natalia Hryshchenko spoke about the structure and functions of the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and described the dynamics of involving German business and international partner investors in the reconstruction and revitalization of the Ukrainian economy. International business is interested in up-to-date information on the situation in Ukraine and an assessment of opportunities to be present on the market.
Natalia Hryshchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Head of the "Ukraine Reconstruction Team", spoke about the international partnership for the reconstruction and revitalization of the economy
Natalia Hryshchenko also mentioned a new information product launched by the "Ukraine Reconstruction Team" to communicate with Ukrainian communities. This is a series of webinars dedicated to the investment potential of cities and regions.
The expert reminded the audience of a number of programs initiated by German partners, under which Ukrainian businesses or communities can receive financial support or participate in tenders.
Gennady Chizhikov: "For small and medium-sized Ukrainian businesses, the next 20–30 years will be about working with various grants, in essence, it's about investments. We need to prepare for this."
Gennady Chyzhykov, President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, spoke about the need for operational work to present Ukraine's investment attractiveness and increase the level of investment literacy.
Gennady Chizhikov, President of the Ukrainian CCI, stressed the need to present Ukraine's capabilities, to draw the attention of the world community to its strengths now, when attention is focused on us. It is also worth doing "homework" to understand the most profitable areas for investment development. Gennady Chyzhykov says: if we ourselves do not invest in ourselves, why should foreign business do it? We should not expect an investment boom when the war ends, the foundations for it should be laid today: create communication channels, simplify the conditions for doing business in Ukraine, and increase the level of investment literacy.
"For small and medium-sized Ukrainian businesses, the next 20–30 years will be about working with various grants, in fact, it will be about investments. In Poland, most institutions, most of the economy, are built on European funds. We need to prepare for this," says the president of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
CEO of Caparol Ukraine, co-moderator of the discussion Vitaly Vereshchagin turned to Serhiy Voitsekhovsky, Member of the Board of Directors of BGV Group Management, for comments on the company's experience and vision of promising industries for investment in Ukraine.
(from left to right) Oleksandr Melnychenko, Acting Executive Director of UkraineInvest, Serhiy Voitsekhovsky, Member of the Board of Directors of BGV Group Management, Yaroslav Horbushko, Director of the Capital Markets Department of CBRE Ukraine, Vitaly Vereshchagin, General Director of Caparol Ukraine
Serhiy Voitsekhovsky said: the BGV Group Management group of companies invests in 5 key sectors: mining, energy, retail, development, and education.
Most Ukrainians are familiar with retail projects like KOLO or ATB, but about 10 years ago the company saw great potential in critical raw materials (CRM), which was not mainstream at the time. Currently, the topic of critical materials is being actively discussed by Ukraine and the United States: Ukraine owns 22 CRMs out of 34 recognized by Europe and 23 out of 50 recognized by the United States.
According to Serhiy Voitsekhovsky, our country needs new industrialization.
He emphasized the need for an economic ecosystem for the harmonious development of regions in order to balance the standard of living, access to services, and working conditions in different cities.
Oleksandr Melnychenko, Acting Executive Director of UkraineInvest, says that an important milestone for Ukrainian investment was the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On State Support of Investment Projects with Significant Investments in Ukraine” (“On Significant Investments”). UkraineInvest is an authorized institution designated by the government to support investment projects that intend to receive state support.
Melnychenko explained to the audience how the system of investor protection and support works in accordance with the legislation, what list of requirements defines projects with significant investments, and encouraged them to contact UkraineInvest experts for free support regarding future investments.
Recovery Construction Forum 2.0 brought together about 350 participants and became an important platform for discussing solutions in the field of housing recovery, infrastructure and attracting investment.
As an example of how incentives defined by law work, the expert gave figures: in the case of an investment of 12 million euros excluding VAT, preferences and incentives for the investor will amount to about 3,6 million euros.
Oleksandr Melnychenko said that with the support of UkraineInvest, informational meetings are also held for potential investors from abroad and Ukrainian diplomats to immerse them in economic realities and highlight investment opportunities.
Concluding the Forum, Vitaliy Vereshchagin noted: we have challenges, and the absence in Ukraine of certain mechanisms that are built in other countries is not an obstacle, but a potential for further growth. Ukrainian business and institutions are adapting to changes, including those caused by the war, and everyone is on the same field for a common goal.
