Table of Contents
- The News. The latest events related to the reconstruction of Ukraine.
- For Your Information. Exclusive reporting and notes on stakeholder meetings.
- Opinions. Summaries of new opinion pieces from influential media outlets, pundits and intellectuals around the world.
- Deep Dives. Reporting on new academic and think tank studies related to the reconstruction of Ukraine.
- The Morning Social. Important, influential or particularly insightful social media posts that illuminate the mood and plans of Ukraine and the rebuilders.
Zelensky names President's Office aides as foreign minister, head of reconstruction in Cabinet shuffle
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed nine new ministers, including the high-profile Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in the most sweeping government overhaul since the Russian invasion of February 2022.
Zelensky, who has been accused of using the Cabinet shuffle to bolster his power within the government while the country is still under martial law, named diplomat Andrii Sybiha as the new foreign minister ahead of a key visit to Washington DC.
Sybiha, 49, most recently led the diplomatic efforts of the President's Office, keeping a low profile despite the high-profile nature of the role, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Zelensky also named Oleksiy Kuleba, formerly a deputy head in the President's Office, as named deputy prime minister in charge of Reconstruction, Regions, and Infrastructure, an influential role in the $500 billion-$1 trillion reconstruction of the country expected to accelerate when the war ends.
Olha Stefanyshina, who has led Ukraine's push to join the European Union and NATO, was assigned an expanded role combining her previous duties with those of the justice minister. Zelensky also appointed new ministers for agriculture, culture, environment, veteran affairs, and sport.
Slovakia plans €178 million Danube port upgrade to prepare for reconstruction of Ukraine
The government of Slovakia is preparing a €178 million upgrade to the Danube River ports of the capital, Bratislava, with an eye to increasing their participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The country's transport minister has submitted a proposal that includes upgrades to the cargo port in Bratislava as well as two passenger ports and a freight railway line. The project, prepared by the country's Public Ports company, also calls for construction of a single terminal for rail, road and water transport.
Slovak Transport Minister Jozef Ráž submitted the request for the works as a "strategic investment," accelerating the permitting. The work would take place between 2025 and 2030, reported Slovak newspaper Dennik.
The government plans to ask for funding for the upgrade from the money the European Union has earmarked for the reconstruction of Ukraine, the newspaper said.
Ukraine anti-monopoly authority approves CRH's €100 million purchase of Buzzi's local cement factories
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has given a green light to Irish building materials giant CRH to buy the Ukrainian cement-making unit of Italy's Buzzi, Dyckerhoff GmbH, after a year of deliberation.
The €100 million purchase gives CRH, which already owns three plants in Ukraine under the Cemark brand, two more of the country's eight operating cement plants, with the ninth currently behind Russian lines.
Under the terms approved by the committee, CRH must sell a 25-28% stake in the unit to an independent investor within nine months. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which has discussed the possibility of joining the acquisition with CRH, is expected to acquire the stake.
The planned takeover comes ahead of an expected surge in demand for cement when the war eventually ends and the reconstruction of Ukraine begins in earnest. USAID has estimated Ukraine will need to produce 15-16 million metric tons of cement annually over a three-year reconstruction period, compared with the pre-war production of about 13 million metric tons.
Switzerland names Covid-era health department head as envoy to the rebuilding of Ukraine
Switzerland has appointed Jacques Gerber, who lead the health department during the Covid crisis, to oversee the country's program for the reconstruction of Ukraine and its humanitarian aid package.
As "Federal Council Delegate for Ukraine," Gerber, 51, will supervise the "Ukraine country programme," which includes CHF 5 billion ($5.9 billion) in planned spending over the next 12 years, the Swiss government said in a press release.
Of the total planned spending, CHF 1.5 billion is to be spent between 2025 and 2028, including a CHF 500 million stimulus package to encourage investment in the reconstruction of Ukraine from the Swiss private sector.
Gerber, who will take on the title of "ambassador," will coordinate efforts of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Peace and Human Rights Division, and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
Ireland announces €36 million reconstruction, aid package as premier visits Ukraine
The Irish government has announced a €36 million aid package to help meet the immediate humanitarian needs of Ukraine as well as boost the country's economy recovery and reconstruction.
The package, unveiled during the visit to Ukraine by Irish Premier Simon Harris and Irish Foreign Minister, who is touring areas damaged since the Russian invasion of 2022 and is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Ireland’s assistance in 2024 prioritises prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence, support for maternity services and rebuilding of homes for people forced to flee conflict and now living in collective centers," said Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, who's accompanying Harris.
The funding brings Ireland’s total financial assistance to over €380 million since February 2022, the government said.
Ukraine to keep seized Russian territory until Putin negotiates, Zelensky tells NBC
Ukraine intends to maintain control over the Kursk region of Russia until Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to negotiate, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with NBC News.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine's objective is not to occupy Russian land, but to restore its territorial integrity and his country will hold the seized Russian territory as part of his "plan for victory" in the ongoing conflict.
"We don’t want to bring our Ukrainian way of life there,” he said, adding that for "now, we need it."
He also said Ukraine has captured numerous Russian soldiers and plans to exchange them for Ukrainian prisoners of war, while keeping details of military operations discreet to avoid giving Russia time to prepare.
Russian missile strike on Ukraine military institute kills 51, leaving many trapped in rubble
A Russian missile attack on a military institute in central Ukraine killed at least 51 people and injured 271 in the deadliest single attack of the war so far this year, the Ukrainian government has said.
The attack, in the central Ukrainian town of Poltava, seriously damaged the Military Institute of Communications. At least 11 survivors have been pulled from the rubble so far but many remain trapped, the Red Cross has said.
"The Russians carried out this strike with two ballistic missiles," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address to the nation. "The air raid alert was sounded. Everything else – every detail – must be established and verified during the investigation."
Zelensky reiterated his call for his Western allies to allow the Ukrainian military to use donated long-range weapons to his launch sites and other targets deep inside Russia, a request that they have so far denied.
2 members of Ukrenergo supervisory board resign to protest 'politically motivated' firing of CEO
Two members of the supervisory board of Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo resigned to protest what they called the "politically motivated" dismissal of CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi.
The two board members, Daniel Dobbeni and Peder Andreasen, had opposed the dismissal in the board's 4-2 vote earlier this week, which followed disputes with the government over issues including the alleged inadequacy of protective structures around key facilities.
"We strongly believe that the decision on the early dismissal of the CEO of Ukrenergo is politically motivated," the pair said in their joint resignation letter, published on Ukrenergo's Telegram channel. "Based on the results of the presented report, there are no valid grounds for it."
According to his LinkedIn profile, Dobbeni is also managing director at energy industry consultancy ETHAN SPRL-BVBA. Andreasen, based in Denmark, is CEO of green energy firm Energinet.dk.
The European Union, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation had sent a letter to the government opposing plans to dismiss Kudrytskyi, which had been rumored as early as last week, said, Inna Sovsun, another lawmaker, reported The New Voice of Ukraine newspaper.
Twists in the tale of Ukraine's $20 billion debt restructuring include sleepless nights, disagreements and a car crash, Reuters says
The story of Ukraine's $20 billion debt restructuring, the third-biggest in history and the first for a country at war, took twists and turns including sleepless nights, near collapse of talks and a car crash, Reuters reported.
The news agency spoke to five sources off the record to recount the story of how Rothschild & Co, the Ukrainian government's adviser, and several major lenders to the country, including BlackRock and Amundi, managed to work out an agreement.
The story, as told by the news agency, ends with Ukraine's debt chief, Yuriy Butsa, getting into a car crash while finalizing the history deal.
"No one was hurt, but Butsa was now sitting in an insurance office in Lviv filling out forms whilst taking calls to finalise the statement that the $20 billion restructuring had, in principle, been agreed," Reuters wrote.
UK grants £3 million to teach English to Ukrainian civil servants working on European integration
The UK government has earmarked £3 million to teach English to Ukrainian civil servants who work in the area of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, the Ukrainian government said.
The money will be used to teach English to 1,400 Ukrainian civil servants per year for three years through the British Council language-training program, said Olha Stefanishyna, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.
A year ago, the Ukrainian government announced a nationwide push to persuade citizens to learn English as the country prepares to start talks on joining the European Union and recruit international help to rebuild the country.
A 2022 survey by international language education company Education First placed Ukrainians 26th among 35 European countries in terms of English proficiency. The same survey, though, indicated Ukrainians were studying hard - English knowledge was spreading at the third fastest pace in Europe as Ukraine tightens ties with the West.
Iran aims to supply Russia with ballistic missiles to fight Ukraine, sources tell Bloomberg
European officials expect Iran to deliver ballistic missiles to Russia soon, potentially escalating the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.
The missiles pose a greater threat than previously supplied Iranian drones due to their higher speed and payload capacity, according to the report. While the exact details remain undisclosed, shipments could begin within days, the news agency said.
Although Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of drones during its invasion of Ukraine, a new transfer of ballistic missiles is likely to draw additional sxanctions from Western nations.
The transfer would come at a time when Ukrainian forces have advanced into Russia's Kursk region, changing the dynamics of the war, at least temporarily, while Russian forces advance in past of eastern Ukraine.
IMF visits Kyiv for fifth review of $15.6 billion aid program this week, Ukraine's premier says
A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is visiting Kyiv for the fifth review of the lender's $15.6 billion aid program for Ukraine, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The IMF team is meant to decide on an additional $1.1 billion disbursement from the program, the prime minister said on his Telegram account. The last disbursement, of $2.2 billion, came at the end of June.
"The beginning of the mission was discussed during a conversation with Alfred Kammer, director of the European Department of the IMF," he said. "In our conversation, we also focused on the issue of confiscation of Russian assets, which should become a significant resource for supporting Ukraine."
IMF Ukraine mission Chief Gavin Gray said at a conference in Kyiv last month that a government-proposed tax increase, currently under debate, is key to maintaining the support of foreign donors and bondholders who seek greater guarantees of medium-term stability.
Exclusive: Ukraine Rebuild Newswire has just interviewed Neo-Eco, the French company that recycles debris from disaster sites. The company revealed plans to build a lab in Ukraine to halve the time it takes to process materials from waste into a finished, usable green construction product such as low-carbon cement.
Neo-Eco also outlined plans to finish a pilot factory by the end of Q1 2025 and start building a much larger factory in Ukraine. We're processing the information and will include the full story in tomorrow's edition.
Meeting notes*: September kicks off a behind-the-scenes scramble for billions of euros as the European Commission calls for statements of interest from international finance institutions and development finance institutions seeking to use parts of the private sector portion of the €50 billion Ukraine Facility.
In a small meeting of investors, attended by URN, Andriy Kolodyuk, the president of the Ukraine Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, outlined his strategy for attracting some of that money to the Ukrainian Fund of Funds he has created. URN's meeting notes, a transcript, and audio are available here.
*Transcripts and audio are edited to remove any information the source declared "off the record" and the transcript has been lightly edited to remove repeated words, interruptions and other idiosyncrasies to make it easier to read.
EU's delays in creating mechanism to use interest on frozen Russian assets is endangering Ukraine's stability: Politico opinion piece
The European Union's delay in creating a legal framework needed to give Ukraine the interest earned on frozen Russian assets is threatening Ukraine's financial stability, write Anders Aslund, Daniel Fried and Kurt Volker in an opinion piece in Politico.
The decision to use interest from frozen assets was a compromise, avoiding full seizure of the $300 billion in assets, but requires EU action to proceed, the authors write. Meanwhile, the $50 billion advance on the interest promised by G7 leaders, based is crucial for covering Ukraine's budget shortfall.
Bureaucratic inertia, election distractions, and political negotiations have stalled progress, leaving the US unable to treat its contributions as loans. The EU must act immediately to provide the promised support to Ukraine, they wrote.
Aslund is a senior fellow at the Stockholm Free World Forum and adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Fried is a former US assistant secretary of state and Kurt Volker is a former US ambassador to NATO and special representative for Ukraine negotiations.
The Oxford Human Rights Hub, an organization of human rights scholars and policy-makers founded in 2012 at the University of Oxford, published a four-part, three-hour series of podcasts on the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The series, called "ReBuilding Ukraine for All: Inclusive Recovery for a Resilient Ukraine," covers the reconstruction from the point of view of the environment, gender, the economy and energy.
A summary review of the podcasts and an AI-analyzable transcript are available here.
The RAND Corporation, the US think tank, published an analysis of Russian disinformation in the Ukraine war titled "Ukrainian Resistance to Russian Disinformation: Lessons for Future Conflict."
The brief article ends by recommending the US search for new ways to engage populations in totalitarian states and identify at-risk countries early. It also says the US must update its training for disinformation in conflicts and ensure military operations have sufficient resources for debunking and preemptively countering false narratives.
The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) published an 11-page paper titled "Removing Bottlenecks for the Private Sector: Ukraine’s Current State of Reforms" that covers Ukraine's potential as an economic powerhouse after the war.
The country, however, first must undertake extensive reforms, focusing on combating corruption, improving the business environment, and aligning with EU standards, the report says.
Much of the Ukraine-related social media posts focused on the tragic story of the Bazylevych family. The father, Yaroslav, lost his wife and three daughters in a single Russian missile strike that hit a residential neighborhood of the city of Lviv, near the Polish border.
Andriy Pishnyy, governor of Ukraine's central bank, posted on Facebook the agenda and goals of his ongoing meeting with the IMF team reviewing the lender's $15.6 billion aid program, including the meeting's agenda and goals.
In a LinkedIn post, BDO released an updated 57-page guide to foreign investment in Ukraine, including a map of investment opportunities, explanations of the legislation and an outline of incentives.
Serhii Sternenko, an influencer on X with 396,000 followers, accused Intel of aiding Russians because its chips are in Russian missiles hitting Ukraine. The post drew 10,000 likes, 690 replies and 234,000 views.
Prosthetics, an area attracting increasing foreign investment in Ukraine, is getting a boost as four universities launch Master of Prosthetics and Orthotics programs, government adviser and curriculum designer Antonina Kumka says on LinkedIn.
Newly appointed US Envoy for Reconstruction of Ukraine Richard Verma posted on X about meeting Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and discussing the reconstruction, emergency energy needs and playing piano.
