'Martial law to Marshall Plan': Ukraine eyes swift recovery despite Russian onslaught

Berlin conference hears calls to begin repairing wartime damage immediately

An excavator clears rubble from a bread factory near Kyiv which was bombed by Russian forces. Getty

Ukraine on Tuesday pleaded for reconstruction efforts to begin immediately as it set out a vision to move “from martial law to a Marshall Plan”.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a recovery summit that the task of rebuilding schools, hospitals, transport and energy infrastructure could not wait for the fighting to end.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, leading the summit in his role as G7 president, meanwhile set out a vision for longer-term renewal to make Ukraine a green industrial powerhouse and EU member.

Memories of Germany’s own post-war reconstruction weighed heavily on delegates in Berlin, a city scarred forever by the bloody end of the Second World War.

Germany and Ukraine both appealed for a modern-day equivalent of the Marshall Plan, the $12 billion US-funded programme that rebuilt Western Europe from the ashes of 1945.

“We know that no two countries’ histories are the same, but from our own historical experience we also know that reconstruction is always possible and that it is never too soon to tackle this task,” Mr Scholz said.

“What is at stake here is nothing less than creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21st century, a generational task that must begin now.”

No concrete funding commitments were expected from the summit, which gathered subject experts and diplomats to discuss reconstruction.

Mr Zelenskyy urged them to speed up contributions to a planned $17 billion recovery effort to repair roads, bridges and other key infrastructure.

“This is what Ukraine literally needs to survive. Not tomorrow, not next year … right now,” Mr Zelenskyy said in a video address.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said recovery funding should come from the assets of Russian oligarchs, which have been frozen but not yet confiscated.

“Too many times over the course of history we saw that the aggressors avoided consequences, avoided responsibility,” said Mr Morawiecki, whose government is pressing Germany for more Second World War reparations.

“There is a huge pot of gold to be taken and dedicated for Ukraine’s reconstruction, which is Russian assets.”

The past weeks have seen some of the biggest Russian air strikes on Ukraine since the start of the war.

Oleksiy Chernyshov, Ukraine’s Minister for Communities and Territories Development, told the summit that 49 people had been killed and 187 homes damaged in the space of 12 days.

He set out a three-stage plan beginning in the current phase of martial law, in which key infrastructure should be repaired and funds readied for longer-term recovery.

The second phase would see houses rebuilt in an initial recovery period of one to two years after fighting stops.

The rebooted Marshall Plan would then be put into action over a period of about a decade, with Ukraine aiming for sustainable growth and eventual EU membership.

Ukraine became an EU candidate country in June, but the path to full membership is long and requires reforms to stamp out corruption.

“We need to firmly embed Ukraine’s recovery efforts as part of its path towards the European Union,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, co-hosting the summit with Mr Scholz.

“The road to reconstruction is at the same time Ukraine’s path towards its vision. It is a strong anchor to become a modern and prosperous country.”

Mr Scholz said his vision for Ukraine would see it becoming a clean energy producer, an exporter of high-end industrial and agricultural products and a “digital powerhouse” with world-leading IT experts.