On 20th of June, the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) and the UBN Network hosted a live event in Kyiv, setting the stage for the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025) in Rome. Held at the Parkovy Congress Center, the event gathered senior government officials and MPs, business leaders, investors, development partners and diplomats to advance the conversation around Ukraine’s reconstruction and the central role of the private sector in driving it.
The event opened with welcoming remarks from Andrew Prima, Founder of UBN Group, and Irina Paliashvili, President & CEO of USUBC, who emphasized the importance of private sector engagement and cross-border partnerships in accelerating Ukraine’s recovery. Keynote addresses by Ambassador Davide La Cecilia, Special Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, and Oleksii Sobolev, First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, underscored Ukraine’s strategic priorities and the shared responsibility of the international community in supporting long-term development.
A sharp geopolitical and macroeconomic outlook presented by UBN Network Co-Founder Mark McNamee offered context on how global dynamics are shaping investor sentiment and economic opportunities in Ukraine.
The first panel, “The Mineral Deal & A Revitalized Europe – What it Means for Ukraine,” co-moderated by Andrew Prima and Mark McNamee, explored the growing relevance of Ukraine’s resource potential and its alignment with Europe’s industrial transformation. The conversation featured First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksandr Korniyenko, who reflected on the legislative path toward recovery; Chairman of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, Oleh Bondarenko, who spoke on Ukraine’s green transition; and Sergii Voitsekhovskyi of BGV Group Management, who shared the private sector’s perspective on investment-readiness in mining and related sectors.
The second panel, “Investment and Innovation,” highlighted practical mechanisms to unlock financing and support growth. Moderated by Irina Paliashvili, the session featured Kristina Mikulova, Head of the Regional Hub for Eastern Europe at the European Investment Bank, who outlined EIB’s long-term approach in Ukraine; Viktor Nestulia, Head of the DREAM Project Office, who introduced tech-enabled transparency in reconstruction projects; and Remi Duflot, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, who emphasized the EU’s evolving investment framework to support Ukrainian resilience.
