Ukraine War: Trade and Business Support

Thursday 22nd February 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Industry and Economic Security (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

This week marks the two-year anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked and illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The UK and its allies stand united with Ukraine in condemning the Russian Government’s reprehensible actions, which are an egregious violation of international law and the UN charter.

Daily, Ukrainians continue to defend themselves against Russian aggression, while also working to emerge from it as a strong, sovereign and free country.

Following the outbreak of the full-scale war, the UK has now wholly or partially sanctioned over 96% —£20 billion—of the goods traded with Russia. This includes every item Russia has been found using on the battlefield to date. We will continue to maintain pressure on the Russian regime to secure peace.

The UK will continue to support Ukraine to defend its sovereign territory through the training of its soldiers and the provision of military aid, but we are also laying the foundations for a private sector-led economic recovery with UK businesses at the forefront of reconstruction efforts.

The Government has enabled UK and Ukrainian companies to trade more easily.

Last year, we signed Ukraine’s first digital trade agreement, which supports Ukraine’s transition to a digitally-led post-conflict economy. To help unlock necessary private capital at scale to aid economic recovery, and as part of the UK’s commitment as hosts of the Ukraine recovery conference 2023, we spearheaded development of the London framework for war risk insurance and donated £20 million to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency’s Ukraine trust fund, which supports trade finance and considers war-risk insurance for select real-sector projects.

Earlier this month, we put in place a world-leading extended tariff liberalisation for an additional five years on almost all goods, with eggs and poultry to be extended for two years, continuing to provide much needed economic support to Ukraine and its businesses.

We are connecting UK businesses with their Ukrainian counterparts to unlock new innovations and shared expertise.

The UK-Ukraine business bridge offers a platform through which UK businesses can connect with partners across the global private sector to engage with Ukraine’s repair, reconstruction and recovery opportunities. This includes supporting businesses to attend international conferences and events such as ReBuild Ukraine, providing a platform to champion and promote UK private sector expertise. The UK-Ukraine TechBridge, formally launched last month, will nurture tech talent and promote skills development in a priority sector for both our nations.

The Government are advocating for the interests of UK businesses.

The UK-Ukraine infrastructure taskforce, co-chaired with the Government of Ukraine, offers a strategic dialogue to agree where and how UK companies can best support critical infrastructure projects.

Ukraine must be able to defend itself and to support this we are deepening our defence-industrial relationship, using commercial and strategic partnerships between UK and Ukrainian companies to support the recovery of Ukraine’s industrial base.

As the Prime Minister made clear in his most recent visit to Ukraine, the United Kingdom will continue to do everything in its power to support Ukraine’s fight against this brutal invasion, for as long as is needed. A more prosperous Ukraine is one that can best safeguard its own citizens. And a more secure Ukraine supports wider UK and global security.

[HCWS282]