First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko and Delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for Ukraine, Ambassador Jacques Gerber signed an Agreement on Amendments to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
This document formalizes the decision of the Swiss Confederation to increase its support for the Competition for Ukraine’s Recovery Projects. The competition is open to Swiss companies that are already operating in Ukraine and can help rebuild the country. According to both sides, the interest of businesses was so high that they decided to double the funding, from 50 to 100 million francs.
The signed agreement opens up new opportunities for the implementation of joint projects under the intergovernmental initiative launched in early 2025. The allocated 100 million francs is part of a broader program of assistance to Ukraine from Switzerland worth 1.5 billion francs for 2025-2028. In total, Switzerland plans to invest 5 billion francs in a 12-year support program.
“The high interest from Swiss business is a clear signal that our intergovernmental agreements are working. An additional 50 million francs will be allocated to projects in the areas of civilian protection, infrastructure reconstruction and development of the public utilities sector, as well as the modernization of public services. We are particularly interested in developing cooperation in the fields of energy, transport, housing, water supply, healthcare, industrial engineering and education,” said First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.
For his part, Ambassador Jacques Gerber emphasized that the decision to increase funding is the result of close and trusting cooperation between Ukraine and Switzerland.
“Last week I visited Chernihiv, and last year I saw the scale of destruction in Kharkiv. Ukraine’s needs for recovery and reconstruction are enormous. At the same time, Swiss companies continue to operate in Ukraine despite all the challenges. They create jobs and pay taxes to the state budget of Ukraine. They also want to contribute to the country’s reconstruction. By increasing the funding for this initiative to CHF 100 million, we are helping to combine Swiss experience and expertise with real needs on the ground and thus contribute to the process of Ukraine’s recovery,” said Ambassador Jacques Gerber, Delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for Ukraine.
The signing of the agreement is an important milestone in the development of bilateral economic relations between Ukraine and Switzerland, which creates new opportunities for attracting investments in priority sectors of the Ukrainian economy.
For reference:
The Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs on the implementation of the Competition for Projects for Economic Recovery and Reconstruction of Ukraine in cooperation with Swiss companies was signed on January 23, 2025, during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Switzerland is one of Ukraine’s key partners in the reconstruction process. In April 2024, the Swiss government announced a 12-year, 5 billion franc long-term support program for Ukraine.
Source: https://me.gov.ua/
