President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko Took Part at the Discussion at Davos Ukrainian Breakfast Organized by Victor Pinchuk Foundation and EastOne

On January 25, 2018 in Davos (Switzerland), the Victor Pinchuk Foundation and international investment advisory group EastOne held the annual Davos Ukrainian Breakfast, their traditional private event organized at the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Among the speakers were the President of Ukraine, H.E. Petro Poroshenko, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Chrystia Freeland, First Deputy Managing Director of IMF David Lipton, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger, President of Poland (1995-2005) Alexander Kwasniewski, and Secretary General of NATO (2009-2014), Prime Minister of Denmark (2001-2009) Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The discussion was moderated by Fareed Zakaria, host of Zakaria GPS on CNN.

Opening the event, the businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk said: “For almost 15 years we do our Ukrainian event in Davos. You know why I decided this? Because, when I came to Davos for the first time in 2004, I understood, this is a unique place. Once I told Klaus Schwab, I admire that in Davos he created a Facebook – before the Internet – a network for the world’s most powerful players.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Chrystia Freeland has assured that Canada supports Ukraine, its sovereignty and integrity, however the country should continue implementing the reforms: “I think Ukraine has done a lot, maybe even more then it is generally given credit for, I think what happened with Nafrogaz, what happened with Privat Bank, the health reform, the pension reform, these are very deep and meaningful changes. I am not sure if 5 years ago many of us would have thought they were possible.” She has also underlined: “We in the international community have responsibility to support Ukraine on the security side this is about the rule based on international order. When it comes to reforms in Ukraine you have to do it. You have done a lot but I am sad to say there is still more to do. You have to hold the course and make these changes because it really is a historical moment. There is really an opportunity for this to be, I would say, a turning point of Ukrainian history.”

First Deputy Managing Director of IMF David Lipton has said that during the previous three and a half years the country faced a lot of challenges however the situation is stabilizing and “the growth has begun but it is very low and not always sustainable.” He believes that it is high time to continue working on reforms: “What really remains to be done it is all in the area of governance and proper role of the state in protecting a properly right and protecting enterprise. I think these are three biggest things for the government left to be done […] are stopping corruption and in particular establishing a credible and anticorruption court and then using that court to help end corruption in privatization […] and then the third is land reform.”

At his speech the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko told that the recent autumn was a time of successful reforms: “Autumn of the reform means pension reform, especially for survivals, sometimes very unpopular, but absolutely necessary.” He continued “I’m proud that this year this is the first time when I had a lot of requests from the foreign investors about meeting with me. It has never happened such a big number of the top players on investment market like this year. What country now is among top priority of the investments to come on the emerging market is Ukraine, but this is important achievement during the autumn of the reform but not enough.”

The major discussion of this year’s Davos Ukrainian Breakfast is related to the main topic of the 48th WEF Annual Meeting, Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World. It is in this very context that Ukraine will be debated over: investments, reform, achievements, issues, challenges and other questions. The world is changing, and it is facing major challenges. Despite certain success in the reform, Ukraine still has lots to do. Where is Ukraine heading in the changing environment? How can international partners support Ukraine in its struggle for territorial integrity, freedom and building up a country that is founded on the European values? What can international partners learn from Ukraine’s experience?

Leaders from politics, business, civil society and the media from Ukraine and the world attended the event, among them: Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden (2006-2014) and Prime Minister of Sweden (1991-1994); Ash Carter, U.S. Secretary of Defense (2015–2017); Oleksandr Danylyuk, Minister of Finance of Ukraine; Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kiev; Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Vice Prime Minister for European and Euroatlantic Integration; Volodymyr Omelyan, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine; Timo Soini, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland; Radoslaw Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007-2014); Timothy Snyder, the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University.

The Davos Ukrainian Breakfast has been organized annually since 2005 to promote Ukraine and bring Ukrainian and international leaders together.

In addition to Davos Ukrainian Breakfast the Victor Pinchuk Foundation together with other partners, Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) and the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA), organized the Ukraine House, which operates in Davos January 22-26, 2018.

Contacts for media-inquires:
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Partners of the Davos Ukrainian Breakfast 2018

• Alfa-Bank Ukraine
• Arawak Energy
• Horizon Capital
• International Renaissance Foundation
• Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF)