RISING FROM THE ASHES - The Role of Innovations for Ukraine's Future

On January 16, 2023, the event "Rising from the ashes - Role of innovations for Ukraine's future" took place at the Faculty of Economics of HU Berlin.

The topic of the evening was an outlook on Ukraine's future, which was discussed by the panel consisting of Prof. Dr. Anastasia, Danilov Professor of Organizational Economics, Oleksandr Rudyak, co-founder of the start-up Onety, Robin Wagener, Member of the Bundestag Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Maksym Yemelianov, Envoy Counsellor of Ukraine in Germany and moderated by Pascal Morgan, founder and CEO of think.speak.transform.

After representatives of HUFW and the moderator welcomed the guests, the latter introduced the discussion with a keynote speech and a short introduction of the speakers. 

The discussion began with some personal impressions of the current situation by Maksym Yemelianov.

Prof. Dr. Danilov referred to the relevance of the work of economists when looking at the war, even if the war was not predictable from their perspective. She particularly emphasized the loss of the labor factor. 

When asked by Morgan if Ukrainian problems, their solutions and values, were intuitive to us Europeans, Wagener replied that the European community of values has been lost. 

Morgan then asked Yemelianov about the possibility of non-military help from Europe. The latter believes that admission to the EU is desirable, both from a strategic and a values-based perspective, although he acknowledges the problems along the way. Wagener confirmed the goal of European assistance in reconstruction in the form of Ukraine's integration into the EU.

Danilov added that suffering infrastructure in particular could be rebuilt in the foreseeable future with European assistance, while legal and social progress could be expected less quickly. 

Rudyak, noting the skill pool of Ukrainians, interjected at the point that targeted outsourcing by foreign companies would be an effective way to support the economy, while Yemelianov cited expropriation of Russian assets as another financing option.

In addition, he repeated the request for military support. Wagener strengthened this with a request for tank deliveries from the German side. 

Morgan then moderated the Q&A session, in which students were given the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers. 

Afterwards, the discussion was concluded by Wagner and Yemlilianov, who called on young people to fight for democracy and solidarity.

The event was closed with an appeal for donations from the organization BERLIN TO BORDERS.