11:24 26 April

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12:03 26 April

World Bank: $14 billion in critical spending in 2023

In Ukraine, due to the ongoing conflict, direct damage amounts to 135 billion dollars, and reconstruction will take 411 billion dollars over the next 10 years. This was stated by Antonella Bassani, Regional Vice-President for Europe and Central Asia of the World Bank, speaking at the bilateral conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine. Bassani explained that "critical expenses for 2023 amount to 14 billion dollars for the next 10 months", of which "60% will be used for transport, energy and housing" but "in addition to public infrastructure, it will serve to catalyze the recovery of the private sector to ensure a sustainable economy".

12:00 26 April

Agreement for Mermec with Ukrainian Railways

The Chairman of Angel Holding, Vito Pertosa, announces the signing of an agreement in the railway sector for the Mermec Group company within the framework of the Bilateral Conference for the Reconstruction of Ukraine. "We sign two agreements with Ukrainian railways and with a Ukrainian industry partner. These are important agreements on railway safety, transport and infrastructure technologies," says Pertosa on the sidelines of the conference. Specifically, the agreements "consist in analyzing the state of the railways, bringing them up to European standards, with the most advanced technology that allows them to free themselves from Russia", explains the president of Angel Holding, and allows the connections of people and goods within the country and with neighboring EU states.

11:53 26 April

Mattarella: "Ukraine must join the European Union as soon as possible"

"Italy - added President Mattarella - expresses its strong conviction in favor of Ukraine's entry into the European Union as soon as possible and we appreciate the commitment of its government to the path of reforms undertaken to comply with EU parameters".

11:51 26 April

Mattarella: "We need peace but that respects sovereignty"

"I confirm Italy's full support to Ukraine, in every area and for as long as necessary. The defense of the independence, freedom and territorial integrity of Ukraine is a fundamental value for all countries in the world that believe in the freedom of peoples and people": this is part of President Sergio Mattarella's message to the Ukrainian delegation. "We all want peace, but it must be a just peace that respects the integrity of Ukraine," he added. The meeting also discussed nuclear safety, reconstruction, and peace negotiations.

07:28 26 April

Ukraine, Tajani: proud for the Conference on reconstruction

"I am proud of the work we have done to prepare the Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine" to be held in Rome at the Palazzo dei Congressi. This was stated in a statement by the Vice-President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani. "Italian companies with their entrepreneurial spirit and know-how in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, health, digital, space and steel - continues Tajani -, will be able to make an essential contribution to the reconstruction of the country".

It is a process, according to Tajani, that "can, indeed, must be started without having to wait for the end of the war". The Bilateral Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine, which will be attended by representatives of the business world, trade associations and the main international financial institutions, is an opportunity to collect directly from the Ukrainian authorities the needs necessary for the reconstruction of the country and allow the Italian Government, bodies and companies to formulate concrete proposals to respond to the needs of Kiev and in the short term and in the medium-long term.

07:27 26 April

Rome, the bilateral conference at the Palazzo dei Congressi kicks off

At the start this morning at the Palazzo dei Congressi dell' Eur, in Rome, the bilateral conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine will be attended by about a thousand companies from both countries, trade associations including Confindustria and international financial institutions, for a wide-ranging comparison on infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, health, digital, space and steel. To do the honors the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, her deputies Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini, the ministers Giancarlo Giorgetti and Adolfo Urso. Representing Kiev, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba among others.

About 600 Italian companies present at the Palazzo dei Congressi dell'Eur called to share their expertise with Ukrainian interlocutors, to provide them with the best short, medium and long-term solutions. Echi will be able to position itself well in the "fast recovery" phase will be ahead when the real reconstruction is started. It starts with a closed-door session consisting of 7 thematic tables on as many sectors identified as priorities. In the plenary session space for institutional interventions, which will be opened by Tajani. At the end, meetings are scheduled, behind closed doors, to give substance and operation to Italian support. The conclusions, preceded by the intervention of the vice president for internationalization of Confindustria, Barbara Beltrame, will be entrusted to the two premiers, Meloni and Shmyhal. As well as a video message from President Volodymyr Zelensky.