Dnipropetrovsk Investment Agency (DIA) has prepared an overview of the international cooperation of Ukraine and Dnipropetrovsk region amid the aggression of the russian federation. The material focuses on the support of Austria and foreign trade indicators based on DIABASE data.

Despite its status as a militarily neutral state, Austria remains one of Ukraine’s consistent partners, providing humanitarian, financial and diplomatic support. Due to its neutrality, the country does not supply lethal weapons, but focuses its assistance on humanitarian projects, support for Ukrainian refugees, restoration of critical infrastructure and development of economic partnership.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the total volume of Austria’s financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine has reached almost €2.9 billion. A significant portion of the funds is channeled through international organizations – the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF and other humanitarian mechanisms, as well as within bilateral cooperation programs.

In 2025, the Austrian-Ukrainian partnership entered a new stage, placing emphasis on the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. The Austrian government included support for reconstruction in its 2025–2029 program, appointing Wolfgang Anzengruber as special government coordinator for Ukraine’s reconstruction. The Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria became the central coordinator of all state initiatives in this area.

An important step was the signing, in June 2025 in Vienna, of the Declaration on Deepening Economic Cooperation between Ukraine and Austria. The document, signed by Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Austria’s Federal Minister of Economy Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, laid the foundation for intensifying investment cooperation, developing business ties and joint participation in Ukraine’s reconstruction.

That same month, the presidents of Ukraine and Austria agreed to expand cooperation in the areas of humanitarian demining, energy, cybersecurity and infrastructure restoration. Austria joined the international Demining Coalition and took patronage over the reconstruction of Zaporizhzhia region, where it supports projects for demining territories and restoring housing, medical and educational infrastructure.

In August 2025, Austria’s Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Beate Meinl-Reisinger visited Odesa, confirming the allocation of about €2 million in humanitarian aid and announcing Austria’s accession to the international coalition for civil protection, aimed at strengthening the safety of the civilian population amid Russian attacks.

The further development of economic partnership continued in 2026. After the resumption of the work of the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Austrian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, the parties identified three strategic areas of interaction: modernization of transport and engineering infrastructure, energy development, including the restoration of hydroelectric power plants and renewable energy projects, and humanitarian demining.

At the beginning of 2026, Austria announced the allocation of another €3 million in humanitarian aid to support the population of Ukraine amid massive attacks on energy infrastructure. The funds were distributed among the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF and UNHCR to provide winter shelters, repair heating systems, and supply generators, fuel and other critically needed resources.

At the same time, Austria, while maintaining its own neutrality, supports the common policy of the European Union regarding Ukraine. The country does not obstruct the implementation of European military assistance programs, supported the use of revenues from frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction, and ensures compliance with EU decisions on the transit of military materials.

Humanitarian projects occupy a special place in bilateral cooperation. One of the most successful examples was the psychological rehabilitation program for children from frontline communities of Dnipropetrovsk region. Participants included children of servicemen, families affected by the war, as well as students of the regional physics and mathematics lyceum-boarding school. For two weeks they underwent rehabilitation in the Austrian town of Sankt Georgen, where they received psychological support, took part in cultural and educational events and health programs. The project was implemented jointly with Austrian partners – the center NOAH Sozialbetriebe GmbH and the women’s association VIRA.

A separate area of development in bilateral relations is interregional cooperation. The Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, Mykola Lukashuk, made a working visit to Vienna, where he held a number of meetings with representatives of the Austrian Parliament, the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Austrian Industry. During a round table dedicated to economic cooperation in the context of the reconstruction of Dnipropetrovsk region, the region’s investment potential was presented and promising areas of cooperation were identified, including the agricultural sector, humanitarian demining, medicine, education, energy, waste processing and the development of local self-government. The parties also discussed the implementation of projects within the framework of the Ukraine Facility program and the prospects for establishing partnership between Dnipropetrovsk region and the federal state of Lower Austria.

Austria also remains one of the leading economic partners of Ukraine. As of the end of 2025, it was among the top five largest foreign investors, and the total volume of Austrian investments exceeded $1.5 billion. More than 600 Austrian companies operate in Ukraine, already participating in the country’s economic development and having significant potential to join its post-war reconstruction.

Austria also remains an important trade and investment partner for Dnipropetrovsk region. There are 28 companies with Austrian investments operating in the region, which have invested $19.7 million in the region’s economy.

Based on the results of 9 months of 2025, the volume of goods exported from Dnipropetrovsk region to Austria amounted to $24.9 million, an increase of 6.2% compared to the corresponding period of 2024. The share of Dnipropetrovsk region amounts to 5.9% of Ukraine’s total indicator. Austrian enterprises are most interested in ferrous metals and products thereof, ores, slag, furniture, knitted clothing, ferrous metals, etc.

More than 40 enterprises of Dnipropetrovsk region exported their products to the Austrian market; these are enterprises of the mining and metallurgical complex, processing industry, machine building and agro-industrial complex.

In terms of the volume of exported products, the following are among the TOP-5 exporting enterprises:

For its part, about 150 importing enterprises of the region mostly purchased Austrian goods, namely: products made of ferrous metals, machinery and equipment, medicines, land transport vehicles, and others. Imports of goods from Austria to Dnipropetrovsk region decreased by 21% and amounted to $28.6 million. The region’s share in Ukraine’s imports of goods from Austria is about 4.7%.

In terms of the volume of imported products, the following importing enterprises are among the TOP-5:

Import operations were mainly carried out by enterprises of the chemical and metallurgical industries, machine building and trading enterprises.

Source: information for preparing the article was taken from open online sources and the website of the Main Department of Statistics in Dnipropetrovsk region.