“We must win the war, but the Marshall Plan for Ukraine is absolutely possible”: head of the Supervisory Board of the Aspen Institute of Kyiv, Natalie Jaresko

Natalie Jaresko, the head of the Supervisory Board of the Aspen Institute Kyiv, spoke about the main steps for the recovery of the Ukrainian economy in an interview with NV Business.

For the past 5 years, Natalie Jaresko has headed the Financial Management and Control Board in Puerto Rico. Mrs. Natalie’s work in this position coincided with a number of crises on the island: a hurricane that completely destroyed it, earthquakes, a pandemic that collapsed the economy. Despite the challenges, she helped overcome the historic bankruptcy in Puerto Rico. Previously, she worked as the Minister of Finance of Ukraine and made a lot of efforts to bring the Ukrainian economy out of the pre-default state.

According to Natalie Jaresko, the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine should begin with an inventory of damages. Ukraine conducts such work, in particular through the Diia application. The next step is extensive planning.

— It is not necessary to rebuild what was, but to build the country in a better form – greener and more energy efficient. We need to work on the vision of this better country right now: by industry and region. Work on such a plan should be carried out with the world in order to attract funds from other countries and international organizations. The participation of the private sector in the reconstruction of Ukraine is important — for this, companies need guarantees against political risks from Western countries.

Mrs. Natalie also believes that prioritization of reconstruction is necessary. Part of the infrastructure and housing must be restored as a matter of priority. It is important that people who have left go back home. The big plan we have to work out must take into account ideas of different scales.

Mrs. Jaresko also notes that in the West they are talking about the Marshall Plan for Ukraine, but at the moment there are no specifics, it is more about intentions. The first priority is financial assistance for the military and civilians in Ukraine.

— Most of the money should come from frozen Russian assets. Legislative work is needed so that these assets, both of the Russian state and its elites, are transferred to the restoration of Ukraine. The second priority is contributions to be made by the World Bank, the IMF, the commercial sector, and private individuals. It is not about one fund to which everyone transfers funds, but about various contributions for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

In the interview, the head of the Supervisory Board also emphasized that sanctions against Russia are not enough, otherwise this country would not be at war. In her opinion, it is necessary to isolate the Russian economy as soon as possible, focusing on three areas:

Banking system. There are about 300 banks in Russia and most of them are not authorized and not disconnected from SWIFT.

Energy. Russia’s oil and gas trade with the EU must be stopped.

Logistics and transportation. Some maritime logistics chains of Russia have already been sanctioned, but so far this country has the ability to move goods to third countries, India and China. It is necessary to impose sanctions on Russian logistics, ferry, and shipping companies. In addition, it is necessary to sanction not only Russia, but also Belarus, which is actually the territory from which the Russian Federation is trying to circumvent the sanctions imposed on it.

In addition, Mrs. Natalie commented on the current state of the Ukrainian economy and decisions made by the state. Read more at the link: https://biz.nv.ua/ukr/economics/nataliya-yaresko-rozpovidaye-yak-vidnoviti-ekonomiku-ukrajini-interv-yu-nv-novini-ukrajini-50231594.html