Berlin Economics at the Annual Conference of the German Platform for the Reconstruction of Ukraine
On December 16th, this year’s annual conference of the Plattform Wiederaufbau Ukraine took place under the slogan “Voices, Visions, Alliances: Co-Creating Ukraine’s Recovery”. In numerous workshops and panels, the event addressed key questions with regards to Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Yiğit Tahmisoğlu from our Energy and Climate Policy team participated in the panel “Green Economy Opportunities in Ukraine’s Recovery,” hosted by the Build Ukraine Back Better (BUBB) Platform and moderated by Anna Ackermann. Together with Oleksandra Betliy and Valeriia Kolomiets, the discussion centred on turning recovery into a catalyst for sustainable growth and resilience, and how reconstruction efforts can be aligned with green transition priorities.
Yiğit Tahmisoğlu shared insights from our ongoing work on green economy opportunities in Ukraine. He emphasised that Ukraine should not be viewed only as a beneficiary of aid, but as a future industrial partner capable of hosting manufacturing capacity that complements the EU. In the context of renewable energy equipment value chains, he noted that Ukraine has the potential to become competitive in wind turbine manufacturing, alongside further opportunities to expand assembly activities in the solar PV and Li-ion battery segments. Drawing on reflections from his recent fact-finding visit to Ukraine, he also addressed the electric public transport manufacturing sector, where the country has a long-standing industrial base and manufacturers are open to cooperation with European partners.
At the same time, challenges persist across both sectors, particularly regarding access to finance and the strength and predictability of market demand. Overcoming regulatory and market barriers will be essential to unlocking investment and enabling sustainable sectoral development.
The session demonstrated that despite major challenges, there are also opportunities in the reconstruction of Ukraine, from reducing dependence on fossil fuels to strengthening infrastructure robustness and accelerating environmental commitments.
Berlin Economics would like to thank thePlattform Wiederaufbau Ukraineand the Build Ukraine Back Better (BUBB) Platformfor their excellent organisation and moderation, as well as all panellists and participants for their valuable contributions and feedback.