The Chambers view on war in Ukraine, five months on

Five months ago, Russia launched its “special military operation” on Ukrainian soil. This invasion has raised a wave of solidarity from the chambers in our network. We take stock of these long months of occupation and the prospects for the future.

The war in Ukraine has been raging since late February. So far, six million citizens have fled their country and taken refuge abroad. Grain harvests have begun, but the Black Sea ports remain under Russian occupation and farmers are unsure whether they will be able to export. The conflict has plunged the country into deep economic instability and has made it difficult for Ukrainian businesses to survive and remain competitive.

Almost a third of the businesses have closed permanently and most of the others have had to drastically reduce their productivity. The chambers’ staff were forced to move to safer areas in Ukraine. In this difficult context, our network has come together to help the victims.

Printscreen of the Extraordinary Regional Action Network meeting of 04/07/2022

Screenshot of the Regional Action Network meeting for Ukraine – 04/07/2022

On 4 July, members of the ICC/WCF Regional Action Network met with representatives of local Ukrainian chambers to review the situation, identify the needs in Ukraine and the opportunities for material and financial support from our side. More than 90 people took part in the meeting, including Gennadiy Chyzhykov, President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He highlighted the problems faced by the 25 regional Chambers of Commerce, their 1500 employees and their 1000 member companies.

He also noted that one third of the companies intend to restart their activities and stressed the need to help the country rebuild its private sector. The President, together with all the local chamber leaders, expressed their appreciation for the solidarity shown by our network and the actions taken to protect their employees and to revive the Ukrainian market.

Among these actions is the twinning programme with Ukrainian Chambers. Launched in April 2022 by Eurochambres and ICC, it seeks to link foreign chambers with one of the 25 Ukrainian regional chambers, to provide immediate support and to participate in the country’s economic reconstruction process.

Ben Butters, President of Eurochambres, gave an overview of the results. Several chambers have participated in the programme, including Belgium, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, etc. The network has mobilized to provide humanitarian and financial assistance, which was greatly appreciated since the Ukrainian chambers income has been decimated by the war. 

The leaders of three regional chambers, CCI Zaporizhzhya, CCI Chernigiv and CCI Dnipropetrovsk, then took the floor to highlight their immediate needs: financial support, energy and power supplies, office equipment, electronics and business partnerships.

The Belgian Chambers team sorting clothes for Ukrainian refugees – 14 March 2022, Palais 11

Full list of the local Ukrainian chambers and their needs can be found here.

If your chamber or company would also like to get involved in offering assistance to the Ukrainian people, please contact ICC at  icceurope@iccwbo.org.

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