A week ago, a conference in Lugano on Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction ended, at which Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal presented a map of the regions that the countries will work to rebuild. You will not find Slovakia on it, despite the fact that our country is one of the leaders in humanitarian aid, has deep cultural and political relations with its eastern neighbour, and our political leaders are in direct contact with the ruling circles in Ukraine.

Plans on Ukraine’s reconstruction are bold

At the outset, it is also necessary to add that the ideas of reconstruction of Donetsk, Luhansk or Kherson in the context of their occupation are, to say the least, bold, even if it is right to have a plan for Ukraine, both morally and economically. As a result, a number of questions arise in relation to Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. Apart from the fact that the end of the war in its current state is considered by us to be tantamount to heresy and an unthinkable concession to Russia, it is probably too ambitious to talk about post-war reconstruction at a time when both sides are convinced of their victory. Without calling into question the efforts to help Ukraine, it is also a question of where we want to get the approximately EUR 750 billion to EUR 1 trillion that is being talked about in this context. By way of illustration, it is planned to spend up to nine times the gross domestic product of Slovakia, or six times that of Ukraine, on the so-called Marshall Plan for Ukraine. Of course, there is always the option of borrowing, but is this a sensible strategy at a time of double-digit inflation and a looming recession in Europe? On the other hand, there is a good argument that Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction can help the EU kick-start its economy on the way out of the crisis.

Round table with Prime Minister Heger

However, it must be borne in mind that it must be our companies that will be involved in this renewal. There is also the idea of added value, which in this case is the creation of infrastructure between our countries and Ukraine, so that trade exchanges will be easier to carry out in the future. Whether we are talking about road infrastructure, railways or airports and heliports. Variables such as the durability of the investments in question also enter into the equation in this case. Whether in the form of maintenance of the facilities, or the creation of subcontracts, or even business hubs in the regions where the investments in question are being made. It is the issue of added value that should dominate the discussion on project implementation in Ukraine, both in the initial phase of infrastructure projects and in the later stages of FDI. These discussions should be conducted by the government with business representatives at the given moment. An introduction to this issue is the roundtable with Prime Minister Eduard Heger last week, in which, in addition to state and public administration bodies, business associations and NGOs participated.

Still nothing is lost

Such efforts are more than welcome, but the question is how to set up processes so that we catch up with other countries. They have already sorted out what activities and in which regions of Ukraine they will implement them. In the neighbouring Czech Republic, for example, they have already been having this debate with the private sector for several months, and Prime Minister Fiala has already announced direct negotiations with Ukrainian partners. In this case, we are in a very advantageous position, as this is our neighbour, which we are helping in no small measure, and our closest ally, the Czech Republic, holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU. Therefore, we may have somewhat missed our opportunity to be among the first to bring relevant topics to the table, but nothing is lost. In this context, it is appropriate to increase the pace of debate, both in the professional public and in business circles – which is the aim of this commentary. But also at government level, because if we do not speed up the whole process, our advantageous positions will be occupied by other, more predatory or bigger players, and Slovakia will only pay the bill for humanitarian aid. Source: Jozef Hrabina pre Webnoviny