Online conversation 
The transformation and reconstruction of Ukraine

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The war Russia is waging in Ukraine is a humanitarian disaster, and its social and economic repercussions are being felt worldwide. The OECD Council has condemned Russia in the strongest possible terms and is working on a new strategy to support Ukraine, building on a Memorandum of Understanding established with the country in 2014 and renewed in 2021. The OECD Development Centre stands ready to support these efforts, providing expertise in a wide range of policy domains.

This DevTalk is meant as a dialogue to explore ways for the OECD to help the Ukrainian economy and its people. It will bring together OECD and Development Centre members (delegations and experts in capitals), as well as the Secretariat.

Drawing on insights from four leading experts, participants will discuss Ukraine’s economic and social transformation prior to 2022, the impact of the war, priorities for reconstruction, and the international support needed to realise its vision.

Opening

• Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General, OECD

• Vadym Omelchenko, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to France
  
  

Panel discussion

• Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Quantedge Presidential Professor of Economics, University of California Berkeley

A native of Ukraine, Yuriy received his MA at EERC / Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine) and his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. Most recently, he authored, together with Torbjörn Becker and other colleagues, a CEPR paper entitled A Blueprint for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.

• Nataliia Shapoval, Head of KSE Institute & Vice President for Policy Research, Kyiv School of Economics
  

Also a Director at the Centre of Excellence in Procurement, Nataliia has served as a contributor to the Ukraine reform monitoring project of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Since the beginning of the war, Nataliia is working with the government of Ukraine to calculate the cost of damages to the Ukrainian state. She is based in Kyiv.

• Tymofii Brik, Acting Wartime Vice-president of International Affairs & Head of Sociological Research, Kyiv School of Economics

Tymofii is the recipient of the 2018 “Best young sociologist of Ukraine” award. He holds a Ph.D. in social sciences from the University of Carlos III (Madrid) and a Master’s degree in Sociology and Social Research from Utrecht University. In 2018 and 2020 he was a visiting researcher at Stanford University and New York University, respectively. He is based in Kyiv.

• Torbjörn Becker, Director, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), Stockholm School of Economics

Torbjörn is also a board member of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, chairman of the board of the Kyiv Economics Institute (Ukraine) and CenEA in Poland, and a member of the International Faculty Committee at the International School of Economics in Tbilisi. He previously worked for the International Monetary Fund for nine years. He holds a PhD in economics from the Stockholm School of Economics. In the past three months in particular, he gave a series of talks on Ukraine’s’ economy, reconstruction, and the geopolitics of this war.

Comment

• William Tompson, Head of Eurasia, Global Relations and Co-operation, OECD
  
  

Moderation and concluding remarks

• Ragnheidur Elín Árnadóttir, Director, OECD Development Centre.