EU-Ukraine Business Summit logo

EU-Ukraine Business Summit Summit 2024

18 April

Cercle Gaulois, Brussels

In mid-December 2023, the European Council approved Ukraine's pursuit of EU membership, marking a major step toward the country's economic and political integration with Europe. This focuses attention on the challenges of attracting inward investment from EU-based companies that have a wealth of opportunities.

Strengthening economic ties between the EU and Ukraine is crucial for Europe's support of the Kyiv government and its people. Corporate leaders with experience in the region discussed key sectors of the Ukrainian economy, aiming to foster a greener development.

Meet the Speakers

Hadja Lahbib
Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs Foreign Trade, and the Federal Cultural Institutions
Olivér Várhelyi
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations
Gert Jan Koopman
Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission
Svitlana Grynchuk
Deputy Minister of Energy, Ukraine
Teresa Czerwińska
Vice President, European Investment Bank
Volker Oel
German Deputy Commissioner, Deputy Director General for Eastern Europe, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Markus Beyrer
Director General, BusinessEurope
Anna Jarosz Friis
Director of Ukraine Service, Department for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission
Oleksii Sobolev
Deputy Minister of Economy, Ukraine
Olha Stefanishyna
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ukraine
Andrey Kolodyuk
Chair, Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association
Arthur Zagorodnykov
Deputy Chairman of the Board, First Ukrainian International Bank, PUMB
Jakub Boratynski
Director of Networks & Governance, Department for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Andriy Kryl
Head of International Affairs, Metinvest
Anna Derevyanko
Executive Director of the European Business Association
Maciej Witucki
President of Lewiatan Confederation, Vice President and Special Envoy for Ukraine at BusinessEurope
Paula Pinho
Director, DG ENER.B, European Commission
Artur Lorkowski
Director, Energy Community Secretariat
Jan De Pauw
Special Envoy for Ukraine, Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Natalie Pauwels
Head of Unit, Inter-institutional, Coordination of Relief and Reconstruction, DG NEAR, European Commission
Patrick Alexander Avato
Head, Pre-investment and Advisory, Europe Infrastructure, World Bank Group
Mustafa Nayyem
Head of the Ukrainian State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development
Léon Delvaux
Director for Neighbouring Countries, Industry, Goods, Regulatory Cooperation and Public Procurement, DG TRADE, European Commission
Jochen Friedrichs
Head of Etex Building Performance Division and member of Etex Executive Committee
Oleksandr Kravchenko
Managing Partner for Ukraine, McKinsey
Bogdan Malniev
Ukraine Law Partner, EY
Vsevolod Chentsov
Ambassador of Ukraine to the EU
Kateryna Glazkova
Executive Director, Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP)
Mykhailo Bno-Airiian
Chair, Federation of Employers of Ukraine Committee on European Integration
Nadiya Bihun
Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine
Harald Riener
Member of the Managing Board, Vienna Insurance Group
Udo Philipp
State Secretary, German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
Davide La Cecilia
Ambassador, Special Envoy for Reconstruction of Ukraine
Werner De Wolf
CEO, Schréder SA Belgium
Milica Delevic
Director for Governance and Political Affairs, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Vasyl Monastyrskyy
Director of Operations in Ukraine, Schréder

"By embracing the vast opportunities in the neighbourhood, businesses can contribute to economic growth, and foster political stability and social progress. Your investments have the potential to transform society and bring prosperity to our neighbours."

Olivér Várhelyi
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, at EBS 2023

“Massive recovery and reconstruction efforts also mean significant opportunities for businesses. And that’s when transparency, good governance, respecting the rules of public procurement and promoting competition come into play. These are all preconditions for making the reconstruction of Ukraine a lasting success.”

Hadja Lahbib
Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs

“Ukraine has embarked on the accession process. It is a bit unusual to work on this during wartime, but it doesn’t stop people from moving forward. The Commission is not lowering the standard, Ukraine’s advancement is being earned on merit.”

Gert Jan Koopman
Director-General of DG NEAR, European Commission

"Our message to business is: Ukraine is already quite advanced in the integration of the supply chain to the European Union.”

Taras Kachka
Deputy Minister of Economy, Ukraine

How to get there

Public transport (Metro and bus stops): Arts-Loi, Parc, Trone

Car parks nearby: BePark - Parking Arts-Loi

Check the 2024 Agenda

Our mission statement

Our mission is twofold: we aim to bring politics and business together in order to provide them with an opportunity to debate and pursue their common goals, giving a voice to all sides of the debate. The other priority of EBS is to provide European institutions with a platform where they can place their top priorities in the spotlight and advance the development of new pieces of legislation through discussion with a variety of actors and stakeholders.

Arnaud Thysen
Director General

They trust us

Among other: