On July 16, 2025, Kyiv hosted the conference “Economic Recovery of Ukraine: Labor Market, Investments, Public Procurement” organized by the Ukrainian Business Council and the National Business Coalition with the support of Helvetas Ukraine. The event brought together representatives of the Parliament and heads of leading business associations to discuss the most pressing issues of the country’s economic development.

The conference was attended by Olena Shulyak, Head of the Servant of the People party, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning; Oleksiy Movchan, Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Development; Yaroslav Rushchyshyn, Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Development, representative of the Ministry of Economy, as well as representatives of 124 business associations uniting 27 thousand Ukrainian enterprises.

Peter Bashe, Director of Helvetas Ukraine, opened the discussion by emphasizing the importance of human capital development. The Swiss organization presented a large-scale labor market survey that covered 55,000 private sector representatives and 69,000 unemployed.

Rostyslav Korobka, vice president of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, outlined the scale of the problem:

“We lack about a million workers in agriculture, construction, and logistics. The cost of labor has tripled in recent years, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified personnel.”

The CCI Vice President insisted on the need to remove legislative barriers to attract foreign workers and create incentives for the employment of internally displaced persons.

Yaroslav Rushchyshyn, Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development, shared the challenges in promoting reforms. He spoke about the warnings from the Security Service of Ukraine regarding the abolition of work permits for foreigners, despite the economic feasibility of such changes.

Oleksiy Movchan, Deputy Head of the Committee on Economic Development, emphasized the lack of a systematic approach:

“I personally have not seen a state strategy for attracting foreign labor to stimulate the economy. And the economy never moves without people.”

The MP called for the creation of a national migration policy strategy.

Anatoliy Dolynnyi, head of the Ukrainian Federation of Security Industry, presented an initiative on housing for IDPs:

“It is cheaper for business to pay rent for internally displaced persons than to bring people from somewhere else, cheaper than to raise wages.”

He suggested pilot projects for the construction of social housing with the participation of the private sector.

Olena Shulyak, head of the Servant of the People party, announced the adoption of the draft law on the basic principles of housing policy in the first reading. The draft law envisages the creation of a digital housing accounting system and the prevention of corruption schemes in housing queues. She also announced the transfer of 400 million euros from the European Commission for the construction of social housing.

Iryna Ogorodnikova, representative of the Association of Tax Consultants, presented a solution to the problem of shadow lease, which will legalize the market and provide additional guarantees to tenants.

“90% of the real estate rental market is in the shadows. We propose to introduce a 5% rate for services provided through digital platforms, instead of the current 18% plus military duty. Draft Law No. 13232 provides for such preferential conditions for the self-employed.”

Yevhen Riyako, representative of the Ukrainian Bar Association, outlined the systemic problems of public procurement. “90% of law enforcement complaints are based on the fact that goods were delivered at a price higher than the average market price. Therefore, the association proposes to create a specialized procurement institution with the ability to determine the expected value and to reform commodity expertise.

Oleh Loschylin, Head of the All-Ukrainian Security Association, added:

“We propose to take advantage of the experience of business associations and establish an institute of independent experts who will determine a fair price.”

He cited numerous examples of state-owned enterprises purchasing security services at a price below the minimum wage of a security guard.

Anastasiia Baklan, Helvetas Project Manager, presented the results of a large-scale labor market survey. Surveys have shown that vocational specialties are in the greatest demand among employers, 70% of the population is ready for retraining, but only 18% are ready to relocate for work.

Andriy Savarets, coordinator of the Ukrainian Association of Humanitarian Demining, warned against funding cuts, as the cost of work is at least 80,000 hryvnias per hectare, while the tender price does not exceed 60,000. He reported on the creation of six new demining machine production facilities due to the abolition of import duties on components. Representatives of the Association noted the development of a new ROM on humanitarian demining and called on MPs to take part in its development and registration.

Hanna Strykun, head of the National SME Platform, raised the issue of taxation of grant aid:

“Individual entrepreneurs in the frontline regions refuse to receive aid because they cannot pay more than 20% of taxes.”

She called for legislative regulation of the issue of grant exemption from taxation.

Yulia Chumak, Head of the URB Advocacy Department, drew attention to the draft law No. 9559-d on the expansion of powers of local authorities in the security sector, which is awaiting the President’s signature since June 2024. Yulia emphasized its importance and offered to communicate with the Presidential Administration on its signing.

The conference demonstrated the readiness of business and government to work together on key economic reforms. The participants agreed to set up working groups to develop legislative initiatives in the areas of housing policy, labor law, public procurement, and humanitarian demining. The next meeting is scheduled for the fall of 2025 with a presentation of specific legislative initiatives developed by the working groups.