Are recovery and reconstruction two identical processes, or do they not overlap at all? Why is it beneficial for international partners to support Ukraine? And what is the place of the fight against corruption in both processes? Olga Lymar, Executive Director of the RPR Coalition, spoke about all these issues live on Svoi.City.
Listen to the full recording here.
Let’s start with the distinction between the terms, because I think we often juggle the words “recovery” and “reconstruction”. These are two parallel processes. Recovery is a broader process that can be seen as a renaissance, the rebirth of our state, that is, a democratic country integrated into the EU and NATO. This process concerns the reforms we are completing and continuing, and regional development.
Rebuilding is more about infrastructure, and it depends on understanding the recovery. For example, if we do not know how to teach children in school, we will not know what kind of school to build.
Today, we are definitely at the stage of forming a conceptual vision of our country’s recovery. Everyone agrees that Ukraine should be integrated into the EU, a democratic state with the rights and freedoms of every citizen guaranteed. I cannot say that the concept is complete, but we are moving in this direction.
For example, in 2022, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decree, a National Recovery Plan was to be developed. Targeted working groups were set up, involving many experts, civil society organizations, government representatives, MPs, and other government agencies. In fact, these working groups were supposed to cover more than 20 areas of political reform. Unfortunately, however, the plan was not finalized. Frankly speaking, it cannot be considered of high quality because the work was too diverse. Now a new format of the Ukraine Facility is being proposed, which should be more programmatic. It should define directions, movement, and mechanisms for raising funds. International partners will help, and control over the use of these funds will be established, etc.
Speaking of funds.
Ukraine has set a very high bar for integration into the EU. And we can already see the results: in just one year, we received the candidacy, and a year later, we actually received approval to start the negotiation process. Therefore, it is impossible to carry out reforms without thinking about their compliance with the requirements of the European Union and its directives.
We have seen that the recommendations received in connection with the EU candidate status prioritized political reforms, in particular those related to the fight against corruption, the rule of law and the judiciary. One of the key reforms, anti-corruption, remains a priority, particularly for international partners. This is the first important aspect of recovery.
Corruption reduces the effectiveness of the use of funds, especially those intended for the benefit of the community. Alongside anti-corruption measures, other processes must continue, including civil service reform and the completion of decentralization. So, we see that there are still many issues that will determine the success of recovery and reconstruction.
Another important aspect is the human factor. We need to bring people back to the country. Recently, the analytical platform VoxUkraine published a study of the reasons why Ukrainians left and the possibility of their return. One of the key conclusions is that people’s opinions are fickle, they can constantly change their minds about returning or not returning. And this is influenced by a number of factors (besides the obvious security or availability of work/housing) – the level of comfort of life, social services, especially when it comes to children.
The Reanimation Package of Reforms Coalition has long been talking about the importance of the social and humanitarian sphere. Last year, together with the School of Political Analysis of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, with the participation of more than 50 experts, we developed a concept of reforms in this area.
We realized that when it comes to reforms and recovery, the focus should be on the living person – mother, father, veteran, military personnel, children, people with disabilities, students… We should think about how comfortable they will be living in Ukraine.
The third aspect is the support of international partners. I have repeatedly said that we are supported not only because of Russia’s aggression, but also because we are a democratic country. For the EU and the US, there is a global understanding that by developing democracy, they strengthen themselves and create a secure region. Ukraine acts as a defense checkpoint on the borders of Europe. By supporting and developing a strong, economically stable and democratic Ukraine, international partners also benefit. Our partners are investing their resources in reform, recovery and reconstruction as a basis for future investments. And we should not forget that.
