From Thursday, the members of the G7 will try to agree to return to kyiv Russian assets frozen since the start of the war. This weekend, dozens of countries will also meet in Russia’s absence at a peace conference. But before that, the kyiv partners have a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Berlin. Nearly 2,000 participants from around sixty countries come together for a Conference on the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.
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According to the World Bank, nearly 500 billion dollars (486 billion euros) are needed to rebuild Ukraine. Housing, roads, industries, businesses… The war brought down entire sections of the economy: experts estimate, for example, that almost half of the electricity production capacity was destroyed.
In Berlin, Ukraine will once again mobilize traditional donors, but kyiv is also counting on the private sector and wants to insist on tax incentives: nearly 600 companies are expected in the energy and health sectors. or logistics.
Accelerate Ukraine’s accession to the EU
This conference for the recovery of Ukraine is the third of its kind since the start of the war two and a half years ago. But after Lugano in 2022, then London last year, this is the first time that it is being held within a country of the European Union. Quite a symbol for the host country, Germany, which should remind us that reforms still need to be carried out to accelerate Ukraine’s accession to the EU. “ In addition to our military support, this is the best protection there is », Estimated the German Minister of Foreign Affairs this Monday.
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But as this new conference for the reconstruction of the country opens, it is kyiv which has sent a worrying message to its Western partners, while the head of the agency for the reconstruction of Ukraine, the reformist Mustafa Nayyem, resigned from his post, believing that Volodymyr Zelensky’s government is preventing him from carrying out his duties, reports our correspondent in kyiv, Stéphane Siohan.
Resignation of the head of the agency for the reconstruction of Ukraine
Former journalist, figure of the Maidan revolution, Mustafa Nayyem entered politics ten years ago, with the aim of reforming the functioning of public administrations from within. Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, with an impeccable reputation, Nayyem became in 2023 the head of the reconstruction agency, responsible for coordinating international aid in the country to put the country’s infrastructure back on its feet.
The stakes are immense, and number in the billions, while the anti-corruption authorities are monitoring like milk on fire how this windfall will be used, to avoid any phenomenon of corruption.
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A few hours before the conference on the reconstruction of Berlin, the government banned Mustafa Nayyem from traveling to Germany, where he was to meet donors giving money for reconstruction, which precipitated his decision to resign a few hours later. In kyiv, all eyes are on Andriy Yermakthe all-powerful head of the presidential administration, who makes all the political appointments, and places loyal men in power as soon as he can, in all the cogs of the State.
For civil society and anti-corruption organizations, the matter is extremely serious, because Mustafa Nayyem and his team were a guarantee of independence, praised by international partners for their probity and professionalism. Many in kyiv fear that Zelensky’s men have decided to put their hands everywhere, with the risk of favoritism or corruption appearing in the awarding of reconstruction contracts.