On 28 May, a conference was held in Kyiv that has the potential to set the vector for the next decade - Export in war conditions: Challenges and Opportunities. The event was centred on the presentation of the draft of the new Export Strategy of Ukraine until 2030. The strategy aims to lead Ukraine out of the trap of raw material dependence and into the position of a player in the global market of innovative, high-value-added technological goods.
Exports as a key to survival
"Ukraine's export strategy is designed to strengthen coordination between business, government and public institutions to create favourable conditions for export development. The state should perform service functions, providing support to producers and businesses at home and abroad. It is important for us to increase the production and export of Ukrainian goods and services with advanced processing and higher added value. Therefore, the state policy ‘Made in Ukraine’ has become a basic cornerstone of thinking in the development of the export strategy," stressed Taras Kachka.
The priorities of the strategy are to restore exports to $77 billion a year by 2030 (compared to $56.1 billion in 2024), reduce the share of raw materials in the export structure to 59% (currently 88.9%) and return the export-to-GDP ratio to 33% (currently 26%).
These targets are a response to real challenges: destroyed infrastructure, falling domestic demand, labour outflows, and competitive pressure on global markets. Without effective exports, there will be no foreign exchange earnings, no new jobs, and thus no recovery.
Strategy of action and strategy of persuasion
The event consisted of three substantive panels. The first was a discussion of the expectations and reactions of the key 10 importing countries of Ukrainian products.
‘There is a demand for Ukrainian products - but there is an even greater demand for predictability of Ukrainian policy and logistics,’ said Veronika Movchan, Research Director at the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting.
As part of the first panel, Veronika Movchan presented the results of a study of the expectations of importers of Ukrainian products in 10 key countries. This allowed us to see how the attitude towards Ukraine has changed over the years of war, what exactly foreign partners want to see - and what they expect from Ukrainian exports in the first place.
Ihor Burakovskyi, Chairman of the Board of the Institute, said: ‘Information today is not just about numbers or facts. It is selling yourself, your country, your reputation in the world. And this is an element of economic policy that we must take into account seriously.’
Key areas of the new Export Strategy of Ukraine
"We looked at our main export weaknesses and formulated three strategic goals to change them. At the centre are products with high added value. Today, our average export price is not competitive in the markets. We need to sell processed, expensive products rather than raw materials. To do this, we need strong government instruments that really work for entrepreneurs and exporters" - Volodymyr Vlasiuk, Director of ‘Ukrainian Industry Expertise’, TIPSTER Project expert.
Three strategic goals were presented during the Conference:
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Strengthening state capacity. Development of institutions, analytics and financial instruments to support exports, including updating ECA programmes, expanding business advice and improving the quality of exhibition activities.
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Creating a favourable environment. Digitalisation, customs and tax reforms, development of multimodal corridors to the EU, and unification of technical regulations with the EU.
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Export growth and diversification. Investments in processing, industrial parks, promotion of IT services, defence products, and integration into global value chains.
Implementation involves two stages:
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2025-2026. Establishing the institutional framework, updating the regulatory framework, and analysing markets.
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2027-2030. Scaling up financial instruments, launching business support services, and actively attracting investment.
The Made in Ukraine brand is not a logo but a strategy
The final panel was dedicated to Ukraine's image policy.
"We have to build an image of Ukraine as a country of resilience, opportunities, adaptability and innovation. This should be a strategic communication that shapes Ukraine's economic subjectivity in the world," said Andrii Dlihach, co-founder of Advanter Group.
The architecture of the national brand was presented: Made in Ukraine as an umbrella brand, Green Ukraine and Digital Ukraine as thematic sub-brands. Other ideas include digital platforms for SMEs, cultural diplomacy (embroidery, gastronomy, cinema, music), and the launch of new types of coordination centres with a one-stop shop for exporters.
Discussions are ongoing
The new export strategy is a step towards a more modern economic management model, in which planning is based on dialogue, practice and openness. Prior to the conference, four regional discussions were held in Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, and Kyiv. The next step will be to publish the draft Strategy on the Ministry of Economy's website. Within 30 days, all stakeholders will be able to submit their proposals to the document.
Results of the conference
More than 200 registered participants include business leaders, government officials, experts, international partners, and community representatives. All of them confirmed the main thing: exports for Ukraine are not only economically viable, but also the key to the future.
We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of all those who joined the development of the draft Export Strategy and organisation of the conference. We are especially grateful to the speakers of the welcome speech: Taras Kachka (Ministry of Economy of Ukraine), Markus Koll (Embassy of Germany) and Rana El-Houjeiri (UNDP Ukraine). We would like to thank the panelists: Veronika Movchan, Ihor Burakovskyi, Andrii Serhiienko, Iryna Chuiko, Volodymyr Vlasiuk, Mark Hellier, Andrii Dlihach, Nataliia Zhynkina, Andrii Remizov and Mariia Lypiatska. Our sincere gratitude also goes to all the experts, strategy developers, community representatives, international partners and the business community - each of you has made a significant contribution to shaping Ukraine's new export policy.
The event is organised by the NGU ‘Foundation for Support of Reforms in Ukraine’ within the framework of the project ‘Export Strategy of Ukraine in Times of War’ with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine and the financial support from the Government of Japan provided within the framework of the project ‘Transformational Recovery for Human Security in Ukraine’, and within the framework of the TIPSTER project which is being implemented by the NGU “Foundation for Support of Reforms in Ukraine” with the financial support of the German government within the framework of the international cooperation project ReACT4UA (“Application and Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in the field of trade”), implemented by the German federal company Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.