Rebuilding Ukraine – seven months of swimming upstream

It has been eight long and painful months watching Ukraine and its brave people fight and suffer during the brutal war brought on by its neighboring “broZer”. During seven of those months, Rebuilding Ukraine Agency had its own complex journey riddled with victories, potholes and disappointments.

Formed a month after the war, our member-owned international rapid deployment Agency has one clear mission – help Ukraine rebuild by bringing together likeminded US, UK, European and Ukrainian companies, along with international capital and risk management solutions.

The Agency is organized along several key industry segments – construction/real estate, energy, agriculture, and healthcare. Approximately fifty members strong today, the Agency’s members represent a broad array of companies. From single-person professional practices, to very large architectural, engineering, agricultural and energy firms. As the world’s governments and major financial institutions have been working with Ukraine to develop recovery and rebuilding mechanisms, the Agency quietly took a lead in creating a “closed cycle approach” of developing, financing and insuring projects using its broad toolbox of financing and insurance mechanisms, coupled with building of multidisciplinary teams capable to address the project needs at each stage. Current projects in the Agency pipeline range from development and financing of the state-of-the-art insulation production facility, development of a precast concrete production facility, development of a wellness/rehabilitation center and housing subdivision, to co-financing of a nuclear reactor and of alternative energy powered powerplant facilities.

Despite of the uneven support from the various government agencies and from the international financial institutions on both sides of the pond, the Agency’s Board and staff have persevered and have been moving forward with the laser focus. Rebuilding Ukraine is a rapid deployment agency and that ability to quickly decide, mobilize and act has thus far served as an unbeatable advantage. The Agency entered into several key alliance with established organizations, both in Ukraine and in the US, and through regular roundtables and social media channels has been in the forefront of curating the “Rebuilding Ukraine” topic to a broad audience in several countries. The Agency’s invitation-only Telegram Channel 1 has been critically acclaimed and has become the go to place on the subject.

However, Rebuilding Ukraine journey has not been without its challenges. At the time the Agency was formed, the pro-Ukrainian sentiment was very high worldwide, the war was in the headlines and the world’s outpouring of humanitarian and emotional support has been tremendous. A number of members who joined the Agency at that time have joined guided largely by emotion and having no clear understanding of how they may benefit Ukraine’s rebuilding. When it became apparent that the war will not end quickly and the Agency’s strategy would need to be revised for the long-term, the Agency experienced an attrition of about ten percent of its members.

Another significant obstacle has been investor/donor fatigue, which has developed across the entire “Ukraine” space and the Agency’s capital raising efforts have been impacted by this. As the economic situation in Ukraine deteriorated and bombings escalated, it has become increasingly difficult to develop bankable projects and to even keep up certain meeting schedules due to electricity blackouts, facilities of Agency’s clients being attacked and forced air raid evacuations.

Since the entire Agency staff, Board members and supporting professionals have been volunteering their time, sometimes their “day jobs” took priority and certain Agency initiatives did not unfold as quickly as desired.

When, in March, the Rebuild Ukraine Agency started delivering the message of Private Sector being the key driver in the Rebuilding of Ukraine process, the media and various forum spaces were dominated by theorists and pundits who would put out opinions on how to Rebuild Ukraine without any practical basis. As the time passed, multiple relevant parties understood the importance of the Rebuilding Ukraine with the private sector and started to piggyback on the Agency’s message. I guess imitation is the sincerest from of flattery.

Based on the analysis of the problems, obstacles and successes, the Agency’s Board and Officers have working on putting together a strategic plan, which would allow the Agency to maintain its leading position in the Rebuilding Ukraine space, expand its financing toolbox with equity and possibly NFT offerings, transition its key staff away from the volunteering role, develop cost-effective due diligence and compliance procedures and grow its membership roster to 100 members in 2023.

The Agency is planning a major in-person event in the middle of February in Poland to participate in the Rebuild Ukraine conference and exhibit being organized to accelerate the rebuilding process and we expect 2023 to be the year this horrific war finally ends and the recovery and rebuilding of Ukraine will start in earnest with the Rebuilding Ukraine Agency leading the way for its members.