On January 23, 2025, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukraine and Switzerland signed a Memorandum of Understanding as part of efforts to engage the Swiss private sector in reconstruction projects. The document was signed by the Swiss Federal Councillor, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Guy Parmelin, and the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko.
According to the memorandum, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) will allocate 50 million Swiss francs for projects by Swiss companies operating in Ukraine. This funding will cover projects in key economic sectors where Swiss companies are present in Ukraine and align with the strategic priorities of the Ukrainian government.
“The need for Ukraine’s recovery is estimated at over 500 billion dollars. We hope that the driving force behind this recovery will be the private sector. Ukraine highly appreciates the contribution of Swiss businesses to supporting our economic resilience. Before the full-scale invasion, Switzerland was among the top five investors in Ukraine's economy. Today, we are deepening our cooperation. I am grateful to Switzerland for the decision to allocate 50 million francs, which are part of a broader package of support for development projects. This memorandum is just the beginning, and we expect more reconstruction projects to be supported in the future. We urge Swiss businesses to apply and strengthen their presence in Ukraine,” said Yulia Svyrydenko.
At the end of January this year, SECO will begin the selection process for proposals to launch projects by July 2025. The Ukrainian government, SECO, and the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine will jointly select projects for the first proposal competition based on predefined criteria.
The memorandum also lays the groundwork for a future agreement between the governments of Switzerland and Ukraine on technical and financial cooperation for implementing public projects from the Unified Public Investment Portfolio approved by the Strategic Investment Council.
On June 26, 2024, the Swiss Federal Government announced its intention to allocate 500 million Swiss francs to involve the Swiss private sector in the rapid recovery of Ukraine's regions. These funds are part of the 1.5 billion Swiss francs allocated for Ukraine according to the International Cooperation Strategy for 2025-2028. On December 20, 2024, during the Confederation's budget adoption, the Swiss Parliament officially supported the allocation of 1.5 billion francs under this strategy.
