After negotiations with the Ukrainian government

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, resulting in the loss of many Ukrainian people’s lives, partial occupation of Ukraine's territory, and the destruction of important social and economic infrastructure, ranging from power facilities to medical and educational facilities. The Ukrainian government is working to retake its territory to provide necessary social services to its citizens despite the war. To support the Ukrainian government, the Japanese government decided in February and March of this year to implement grant aid through JICA. Then on May 11, JICA provided a total of approximately $570 million in grant aid to the Ukrainian government.

I was in charge of the negotiations with Ukrainian government agencies on the matters necessary for the implementation of the two grant aid projects, "Programme for Emergency Recovery Phase 1 and Phase 2." Specifically, I held a series of remote meetings with Ukrainian authorities from the beginning of this year and visited Kyiv in February and April for face-to-face negotiations to reach an early agreement and sign the Grant Agreement. The Agreement stipulates the use of funds that JICA will provide, procurement methods for equipment to be procured with the funds, and items that the Ukrainian side will bear.

With this grant, the Government of Ukraine will procure equipment necessary for emergency recovery in the areas of demining, destruction waste, energy, transportation, water and sewage, education, medical and health, agriculture, and public broadcasting. When implementing the grant aid, it is necessary to somewhat agree on the equipment to be procured prior to the signing of the agreement. I found that the Ukrainian agencies in charge of these equipment procurements are nine ministries, involving the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, which was newly established in 2022 and is responsible for the recovery and reconstruction of the entire country. Along with the negotiations of the contract documents I was in charge of, JICA's five departments (Governance and Peacebuilding, Human Development, Economic Development, Infrastructure Management, and Global Environment) held negotiations with their counterparts of the nine ministries.

In addition to the grant aid, there are several yen loan projects, urgently launched research and technical cooperation projects. In these research and technical cooperation projects, JICA has been simultaneously developing recovery and reconstruction plans and provided equipment for winterization assistance in the 2022/2023 season. Fifteen JICA departments are directly involved, including Security Management, Operations Support procurement and Public Relations, and more than 130 officers and employees are registered in JICA's group address for information sharing related to Ukraine assistance operations.

During the negotiations with Ukraine, many ministries and agencies expressed their gratitude for the grant from Japan. They also requested　JICA to provide technical cooperation. Given the request, we are currently considering cooperation in the areas of proper disposal of the large amount of debris and efficient heat distribution systems, in addition to technical cooperation in the areas of agriculture and demining that we are currently providing.

When we exchanged opinions with a European aid organization official, he commented, "JICA's support is excellent in the way that it does not look down on the recipient country from the top, but rather, it is attentive to the recipient country by dispatching technical experts to provide careful consultation.” Although it may have been a lip service, the comment was made in appreciation of Japan's attitude toward assistance.

Since its independence in 1991, Ukraine has undergone democratization through the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Maidan Revolution (Revolution of Dignity) in 2013. On the economic front, Ukraine signed the "Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA)" in 2016 and the "Association Agreement" with the EU in 2017, promoting trade liberalization and changed a number of domestic laws to EU standards. And on February 28 of last year, immediately after the Russian invasion, it applied for EU membership. Putting aside the cases of the Baltic States, a long-term process of political, social, and economic reforms seems to be required for the former Soviet Union member states to join the EU.

As a bilateral donor, JICA's cooperation projects with Ukraine should be "visible" that only Japan can provide, being attentive to the Ukrainian people and utilizing Japan's knowledge and experience in recovery and reconstruction. In the medium term, JICA should cooperate in areas where Japan has a comparative advantage, such as environmental technology and promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, to facilitate for Ukraine to realize its economic integration with the EU as soon as possible. JICA has a track record of cooperation in such areas for Eastern European countries that have already integrated with the EU and with Western Balkan countries that are promoting social and economic reforms aiming for EU integration.

It seems that under President Zelensky's administration, the promotion of human resources is progressing, and in every ministry I visited, relatively young administrative officials in their 30s and 40s were present in negotiations. They were in responsible positions such as vice-ministers and bureau chiefs. They were excellent people who immediately understood the JICA projects that they weren't familiar with and responded quickly. We received e-mails day and night, even on holidays, with questions and confirmations about the acceptance of the grant, asking pointed questions to maximize Ukraine's national interest. Seeing them carefully checking the flow of the funds and the items that the Ukrainian side to bear, we felt their sincere attitude for recovery and reconstruction firsthand. Although at the final stage of the contract negotiations were tough to reach the agreement for the Ukrainian side’s share to bear, it was a good fair negotiation. For me, it was a great experience to reaffirm the significance of working with the Ukrainian people toward their recovery, reconstruction, and development of Ukraine.