Switzerland has been providing humanitarian aid and supporting the economic development and longer-term reconstruction of Ukraine since the war broke out in February 2022. This support builds on the existing cooperation with the country and is to be intensified over the next twelve years, as decided by the Federal Council at its meeting of 10 April 2024. It plans to allocate a total of CHF 5 billion to this end by 2036. As a first step, around CHF 1.5 billion is to be drawn from the international cooperation budget by 2028. This amount clearly demonstrates Switzerland’s solidarity with the people affected by the war in Ukraine and will increase stability on the European continent.
The funds required for reconstruction in Ukraine are estimated at USD 486 billion (around CHF 440 billion). This World Bank estimate is based on a damage and needs analysis co-financed by Switzerland. Switzerland is already supporting projects in Ukraine that focus on rebuilding destroyed civilian infrastructure in the energy, road and healthcare sectors. In addition, Switzerland and Ukraine jointly launched the political recovery process on a broad scale at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano in July 2022. The 59 delegations from states and international organisations in attendance there agreed on the Lugano Principles, laying the cornerstones of the political recovery process.
To date, Switzerland has spent around CHF 3 billion on these and other measures in support of people affected by the war in Ukraine. Around CHF 425 million of this was drawn from the international cooperation budget, with the rest (around CHF 2.5 billion) spent by the State Secretariat for Migration for welcoming and supporting people with protection status S in Switzerland.
Through the measures on the ground taken to date and those planned, Switzerland is also contributing to stability in Europe and reducing migration flows, while indirectly also strengthening Switzerland’s security, prosperity and independence.
Over the next twelve years, the Federal Council intends to step up its support for reconstruction in Ukraine and promote cooperation with the private sector. It plans to spend CHF 5 billion to these ends by 2036. Given the Swiss federal government’s current financial situation, the Federal Council has proposed a phased approach: the support for Ukraine drawn from the international cooperation budget up to 2028 is to total CHF 1.5 billion. The Federal Council will propose this to Parliament within the framework of the international cooperation strategy. For the 2029–36 period, the Federal Council intends to also look into other sources (beyond international cooperation) from which to draw the remaining CHF 3.5 billion.
At its meeting today, the Federal Council also instructed the FDFA and the EAER to draw up a joint Ukraine country programme that includes the appropriate oversight mechanisms. This programme should ensure targeted and effective support and be based on the seven Lugano Principles: partnership, reform focus, transparency, accountability and rule of law, democratic participation, multi-stakeholder engagement, gender equality and inclusion, and sustainability.
The Federal Council also instructed the FDFA, in cooperation with the EAER and with the involvement of all the departments concerned, to establish how the Ukraine country programme is to be headed, in strategic terms. Specifically, a proposal for an interdepartmental steering group headed by a Federal Council delegate for Ukraine is to be drawn up and submitted to the Federal Council for approval.
