On Feb. 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the board of the National Association of Manufacturers during its meeting in Boca Raton, Florida. Zelenskyy outlined opportunities for the American business community to support the war-torn country’s economy and infrastructure.
“All these are not just investment opportunities, not just industries and not just growth,” Zelenskyy said. “This is a wide space for victories — your victories, American business. And I urge you to prepare for these victories now, to come to Ukraine now so that by the time we restore peace, your hard work has already yielded results. And I believe that it will be soon.”
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said his organization remains firm in its support of Ukraine — a position that was announced in the earliest stages of the conflict. The organization announced a unanimous resolution denouncing Russia’s aggression on March 8, 2022. NAM went on to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Jan. 23, 2023.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special military operation in the ex-Soviet republic began on Feb. 24, 2022. Over the past year, the war has claimed an estimated 100,000 casualties. Timmons says NAM’s support has come in the form of both sanctions against Russia and support for infrastructure and rebuilding efforts.
“Ukraine’s fight is our fight because this is far more than a war between two countries,” Timmons said. “It is a battle between freedom and tyranny. So America, and the American business community, stands with Ukraine today, tomorrow, through the end of the war and as Ukrainians rebuild their country after Russia is defeated.”
In the rare opportunity to speak directly to American manufacturers, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for NAM’s, and the broader American business community’s, support. He specifically cited the energy sector as an opportunity for collaboration.
“The Ukrainian life will inevitably get a new start after this war,” he said. “We need to rebuild the energy system of Ukraine based on new security principles. It is in Ukraine that we will combine green transformation with security transformation and create an example for the same transformation in other countries, such as to protect a specific country from any aggression against the energy industry.”
Zelenskyy also said rebuilding presents an opportunity for his country to implement smart climate policy, noting that seven of 15 key virtual power plant providers are based in the U.S.
“Ukraine is an opportunity that will give a historic impulse to the entire industry — solar power plants, wind power plants, small hydroelectric power plants, biomass burning plants,” Zelenskyy said. “Our modernized and centralized energy system is a project worth hundreds of billions of dollars and with the potential of replication for other nations.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is also interested in projects to create a full production cycle of titanium, lithium, aluminum and ferrous metals.
“We need to restore hundreds of thousands of industry, infrastructure and social facilities, residential buildings, whole cities’ industries,” Zelenskyy said. “This is a colossal task, but realistic.”
Zelenskyy also emphasized the impact of American businesses severing ties with the Russian market.
“We are calling on all businesses to come to Ukraine and to leave the Russian market,” he said. “It is obvious that post-hostilities, reconstruction of Ukraine will give an extraordinary moral advantage to all businesses that will be in. When Russia loses, we will prove that terrorist states cannot overcome the power of a united democratic world. And when we restore our territorial integrity, we will also restore the full power of international law, which is equally important for everyone in the world.”
“Manufacturers in America will continue to stand with Ukraine,” Timmons told Zelenskyy, “and we will be there after Russia is defeated so that we can help you and your people build a stronger nation forever rooted in our shared democratic values.”
