On September 19, the investment forum “KHARKIV: RESTART” Pathways to Sustainable Recovery and Development of the City” was held on September 19. The forum discussed the future reconstruction of Kharkiv and the need to attract investment. The forum was attended by 524 participants, including Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov, members of the Ukrainian Parliament and government representatives, including Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine, Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration Iryna Vereshchuk, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, Head of the Parliamentary Faction of the Servant of the People Political Party, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Government Office for Investment Promotion and Support “UkraineInvest” David Arakhamia  Mustafa Nayyem, Head of the Recovery Agency; Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Danylo Hetmantsev, Member of Parliament, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy; Dmytro Verbytskyi, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine; Jean-Erik de Zagon, Head of the European Investment Bank’s Resident Representative Office in Ukraine; representatives of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the European Investment Bank, the Norman Foster Foundation and other international organizations currently working in Ukraine. The forum featured four panel discussions:

• Kharkiv: New challenges, development strategy and international cooperation;
• The IT industry, information development and technology are the future of Ukraine’s development;
• Openness and transparency in the work of municipalities is the key to strategic partnership;
• Investing in Kharkiv: challenges and opportunities.

In particular, the participants discussed the need to attract investment in Kharkiv’s restoration and construction of new modern facilities, taking into account security, potential risks due to the proximity of the border with Russia, inclusion, energy efficiency, and best international practices. Among the city’s development projects, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov presented the idea of reconstructing the Lopanska embankment, creating a “Science Park” – an innovative mixed-use neighborhood, reconstructing Pryvokzalna Square and creating a green zone in Zhuravlivskyi Hydropark. It is also planned to create a modern transport hub and a shopping and entertainment cultural center on the territory of Levada station, and a neighborhood with new housing, offices and social facilities in Oleksiyivka. Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov held a series of meetings with representatives of international organizations and businesses as part of the forum.

• A meeting was held with representatives of the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, during which the parties discussed future cooperation and the experience of implementing projects by the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine during the full-scale war.
• At the meeting between Kharkiv Mayor and the Mayor of Košice (Slovakia), Jaroslav Poláček, an agreement was signed on establishing partnership relations between the cities. The parties agreed to implement joint projects, support the expansion of direct contacts between city representatives and public associations, hold joint information, sports, and educational events, and develop scientific and technical cooperation between enterprises and research organizations.
• During the forum, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhova and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the cities.
• Negotiations were held with Skoda Transportation Ukraine LLC to discuss the city council’s plans to purchase subway rolling stock, electric buses, trolleybuses and trams.
• Kharkiv Mayor met with the delegation of the sister city of Kaunas (Lithuania)
• Kharkiv Mayor meets with a representative of the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI/USAID)
• The parties discussed the issue of cooperation and granting preferences to Philip Morris for doing business in Kharkiv.
• Kharkiv Mayor meets with a representative of Auchan Ukraine Hypermarket LLC.

During the forum, agreements were also reached on investments by International Business Machines Corporation (USA) in the development of digital technologies for the Kharkiv Smart City project. Digital applications for assessing the level of damage to buildings hit by enemy missiles will significantly speed up the process of restoring them. The results of the forum were:

• establishing new and strengthening existing international relations;
• discussing cooperation with the state authorities and state institutions in the restoration and reconstruction of the city;
• discussions with large businesses to resume work in the city;
• support for initiatives of young people, technology businesses and the IT sector;
• development and discussion of investment projects and opportunities for their financing.

All of this will contribute to the recovery of the city’s economy and the restoration of its infrastructure and housing stock, which in turn will give a powerful impetus to the future innovative development of the city. We thank our partners for their comprehensive support in organizing the investment forum!