Over the last week, Ukraine House Davos opened its doors to world leaders and investors for the sixth year in a row during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Ukraine House this year was adorned with the slogan “Your Country First, Win With Us.” The message set the tone for the discussions from Jan. 20-23, which focused on the benefits Ukraine can offer other countries in return for peace and economic recovery, namely lucrative investment opportunities.
Throughout the week, the Ukrainian delegation highlighted Ukraine’s estimated $26 trillion in natural resources and minerals, a topic that has picked up amid the return of Donald Trump, inaugurated on the first day of the forum. The new U.S. president has vowed to bring a swift end to the war, which could potentially usher in a wave of investment.
The Kyiv Independent spoke with Ulyana Khromyak, Ukraine House’s executive Director since 2023, as she wrapped up what she called a packed event.
Khromyak said part of the delegation’s mission was to convince investors to come to Ukraine now, rather than getting stuck waiting in line after the end of Russia’s war.
Ukraine’s natural resources provide a lot of investment potential, alongside the country’s agricultural and defense sectors, she said.
Regarding whether Trump will abandon Ukraine in its fight against Russia, Khromyak is hopeful the president can help achieve a sustainable peace in Ukraine and set the country on a path to recovery.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Kyiv Independent: What was Ukraine House's key message and mission this week in Davos? How has this changed from the last few years?
Khromyak: For the past three years, the messages were about what is needed to win this war, the opportunities in Ukraine, how Ukraine can contribute to the world, and why Ukraine is valuable to the world.
Our message this year was a just and sustainable peace. We had a lot of discussions about how we can achieve this through strength on the battlefield as well as a strengthened position at the negotiation table.
The second message was that Ukraine is not a burden, but a country of opportunity. We showed a lot of opportunities, including how rich Ukraine is in mineral resources. We have about $26 trillion in natural resources in Ukraine, out of which $12 trillion is in minerals.
We also discussed the successes of the existing investors who are currently working under these (wartime) conditions and also the successes of small and medium businesses. The country is resilient, the economy is working.
We talked about investment in the defense sector, which was also a hot topic, to make Ukraine a defense hub. We have the practical experience on the battlefield, as well as the technologies and the knowledge of how to scale this up.
Kyiv Independent: Do you think that there is a positive view that President Trump could be beneficial for Ukrainian businesses and its economy?
Khromyak: Yes, I truly believe there is. You can see this from his World Economic Forum speech. He delivered strong messages supporting Ukraine. Let's believe that his political will can help us strengthen these relations and achieve a just and sustainable peace as well as try to start the recovery of the country.
Kyiv Independent: One of the panels differed from the rest in that it focused on Russia's destruction of Ukrainian churches. Why is this an important message, particularly for Christian Republicans who have not always been supportive of Ukrainian aid?
Khromyak: That's why we raised this topic. We see it’s a hot topic for the Republicans, so we try to reflect this.
We are saying that Ukraine is a country where we have a lot of religions and it's one of the most spiritual countries in the world. Different religions are very important to us. Freedom is our religion as well, but we also need to emphasize that we have a lot of (religious) persecution from the Russians.
We showed a lot of videos about the persecution of religion in Ukraine. The audience said that this is an important message to the White House.
Martin Fornusek
Kyiv Independent: Ukraine House also lent a lot of attention to Ukraine's investment climate and resilience. What sense do you get from investors about their interest in Ukraine currently?
Khromyak: There are a lot of possibilities to develop in innovation, infrastructure, agro-sector, and then definitely the minerals and energy sector. These sectors are very important for the world and Ukraine has all of these resources. We just need to increase their efficiency and therefore we need the investment for this to run independently.
There were a lot of discussions about the frozen Russian assets as well; how we can unfreeze and invest them and efficiently use them to strengthen our economy.
Kyiv Independent: Do you get a feeling that investors are taking Ukraine seriously as a place to invest?
Khromyak: Yes, I do, considering the discussions that we had in the House. We had first Vice Prime Minister and Economics Minister Yulia Svyrydenko speaking, and her deputy was in the House as well, talking about war risk insurance.
The government is supporting it from their side and that's why investors took it seriously. The investors asked a lot of questions about how they could invest, and what would be the security and guarantees provided to them.
Kyiv Independent: Has that changed since you've been in your position since 2023?
Khromyak: Yes, the interest increased. In 2023, no one knew what was going to happen. But right now, we have President Trump’s messages and support from the leaders of the European Union.
Right now we have no other option. We have no choice other than to win this war and to make the country stronger.
Kyiv Independent: Do you get a sense that investors are willing to come into Ukraine now, or are they still talking about coming in after the war?
Khromyak: We were trying to persuade them to come now and show the opportunities because everyone will be queuing after the war. There will be a lot of competition, so first come first serve. They will get better conditions right now, rather than coming after the war.
We showed this deal of the year in the telecom sector, (the $1.5 billion Datagroup-Volia-Lifecell merger) saying that, look, the investors are investing and there are a lot of success stories, so please come and invest now.
Kyiv Independent: Is there a clearer path now to securing war risk insurance?
Khromyak: Yes. We work with Marsh McLennan, who was on the panel, and we had Aon among the audience. These are two main players in the insurance sector who are working with the government right now and with the investment institutions to provide war risk insurance.
We have already had the first successes. The speakers discussed how to involve more people and how to make insurance for those who would like to invest now.
The Aon and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) transaction that jointly provided insurance to the companies is a good development.
Kyiv Independent: One of the final panels discussed utilizing the frozen Russian assets. With some Western businesses lobbying against this idea in Europe, how much support do you think this idea has?
Khromyak. We need the whole amount of the frozen Russian assets, not just the proceeds. Therefore we need the political will from different countries. A lot of people from the Ukrainian government, opinion leaders, and NGOs on different levels are lobbying for this issue.
We are getting there. It's a long and hard path and a lot of countries still need to implement a lot of internal regulations to pass and transfer these assets.
But we systematically need to work on this. The message is that we should not just accept the proceeds, but we need the whole $350 billion.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
