Switzerland unveils July reconstruction conference for Ukraine

President Ignazio Cassis told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that Switzerland has invited leaders from dozens of countries and international organizations to a summit in July on rebuilding Ukraine.

“The meeting will be on reforms that may still be implemented in the current scenario,” Cassis told reporters, referring to the ongoing fight against the Russian invasion, which began on February 24.

“Given how long the road will be… we can’t start soon enough,” he said.

“I can imagine that it might take some years before the international community decides on such a big investment.”

Scheduled for July 4 and 5 in Lugano, near the Italian border, the conference had originally been slated to discuss reforms in Ukraine before being repurposed for war reconstruction.

Cassis said he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had asked around 40 world leaders and chiefs of 18 international organizations to attend the high-level talks.

Speaking by video link via a translator, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Kiev would use any money raised “to rebuild our country with leading institutions, the International Monetary Fund and also the World Bank and the European fund of solidarity with Ukraine”.

But details of the conference’s aims remain sketchy, with no consensus so far on how much cash might be needed to make good the war damage.

Russia had “hit the hospitals, residential facilities, they destroyed roads, grain depots, communal infrastructure, they do everything possible that life in Ukraine would be impossible,” Shmygal said.

He added that “total economic losses in Ukraine are estimated to be more than $600 billion”.

But Cassis criticised “fantasy figures” for the damage that he said had been circulating in media reports.

“An important foundation at the beginning of this path must be a proper assessment of (Ukraine’s) needs, according to all scientific criteria,” he said.

He said it would not be enough to simply pour money into the country.

“There is a danger that this money ends up in the wrong hands,” Cassis said, urging “continuous auditing of the donated funds”.

Cassis was also unable to answer whether Russia’s frozen assets may be used to help rebuild Ukraine in the future.

“This is a global question, and Switzerland will give its response at the appropriate time,” he said.