The Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine and will take place in the city of Gdańsk on 25 and 26 June 2026.
URC 2026 seeks to bolster international support for the country's reconstruction as well as catalyze investments for Ukrainian businesses.
The event will focus on the sectors most impacted by Russian aggression: energy, critical infrastructure, and logistics.
The conference will place additional emphasis on enhancing Ukraine’s security capabilities, including a new Security and Defense dimension proposed by Poland, which will be introduced as a new feature of URC 2026 in Gdansk. Strengthening Ukraine’s defense is viewed as essential for broader reconstruction and long-term development.
Designed as a high-impact investment facilitation platform, URC will gather international, sovereign and private capital actors to accelerate transactions and anchor long-term economic transformation.
URC 2026 will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including heads of state and government, allied governments, national parliament members, international and financial institutions, business leaders, local authorities, and civil society organizations.
URC 2026 will focus on five thematic dimensions:
Revitalizing Ukraine’s economy will require mobilizing both domestic and international private investment, supported by modern financial instruments such as war‑risk insurance. Continued alignment of the regulatory framework with EU standards will help ensure predictable conditions for business development, while a key priority will be transforming investment pipelines into transaction‑ready, bankable projects. Advancing privatization and well‑structured public‑private partnerships will further promote sustainable growth and accelerate recovery. Strengthening financial‑market solutions, expanding venture capital, and scaling up long‑term financing will be critical for driving innovation and rebuilding the country’s human capital. At the same time, expanding risk‑mitigation instruments - including guarantees, blended finance, and risk‑sharing tools - together with targeted support for companies in frontline regions will be essential to maintaining business activity in an environment of elevated risk.
Emphasis will be placed on developing Ukraine’s processing and manufacturing industries, which are expected to serve as the backbone of the country’s future economic model by enabling higher value‑added production, export diversification, and greater economic resilience. Reconstruction efforts will also aim to promote sustainable business development by integrating environmental protection and climate‑resilient infrastructure into planning and implementation, with priority given to green recovery approaches, circular‑economy solutions, and alignment with EU environmental and climate standards.
Rebuilding Ukraine’s human capital requires a comprehensive social strategy encompassing children and youth, internally displaced persons, improved education, healthcare (including rehabilitation, prosthetics, and mental health), and veteran reintegration systems. All these elements need to function in concert and maintain flexibility, enabling rapid responses to evolving social structures and labor‑market requirements. Investments in rehabilitation and social cohesion are key to restoring well-being and rebuilding the social fabric. URC will also drive conversations about how to engage Ukrainians who were forced by Russia's full-scale war to flee the country in the search of safety as well as the Ukrainian diaspora in supporting demographic and economic recovery. In this context, the human dimension also seeks to highlight the importance of diaspora involvement in the questions of Ukraine’s sustainable recovery. Finally, URC aims to strengthen cultural connections between Ukrainian and European societies, as well as foster partnerships for the protection of national heritage, which are essential for advancing Ukraine’s recovery and supporting its integration with the European Union. These priorities should inform broader discussions on adapting Ukraine’s economic model to new demographic and social realities.
Local and regional governments are central to Ukraine’s reconstruction, and the URC 2026 will emphasize building resilient communities through sustainable urban and rural development, modernized housing, decentralized energy systems, and strengthened local economies. This effort will draw on partners’ expertise in governance and reconstruction, while also fostering cooperation agreements between Ukrainian municipalities and their international counterparts. Attention will be directed toward communities that require substantial capacity building and material support. Moreover, within this dimension, discussions will highlight the importance of a comprehensive and integrated approach to reconstruction, ensuring that policies on housing, transport connectivity, regional and local development are coherent and mutually reinforcing. As part of the local‑governance track, Poland and Ukraine intend to establish a joint platform facilitating direct communication among municipalities. This mechanism will accelerate the exchange of information, best practices, and crisis‑response coordination. By leveraging Poland’s experience in community development and its past EU‑accession challenges - many of which parallel Ukraine’s current transformation - the platform aims to help Ukraine expedite reconstruction by adopting proven, effective solutions.
EU accession is a crucial pathway for Ukraine. URC 2026 will facilitate discussions on accession reforms, economic integration with the EU, the importance of stable political institutions, rule of law, judicial reform, human rights, and effective public service. The EU dimension will also enable constructive dialogue on the progress of the Ukraine Plan and activities enabled by the Ukraine Facility.
Ukraine’s defense industrial capacity is not only essential for its security but will also drive the recovery and economic growth. Priority topics will include air defense, intelligence coordination and unmanned technologies as well as military mobility. Protection of civilian infrastructure, particularly energy and industrial capacity, will also be discussed. Dedicated attention should be given to humanitarian demining of contaminated territories of Ukraine, as well as to further strengthening the national system for the development and governance of a network of civilian shelters drawing on the experience acquired by Ukraine. Moreover, the Security Dimension will cover broader resilience topics critical for both Ukraine and the EU such as national resistance as part of the total defense doctrine, dual-use and AI technologies, as well as countering disinformation. URC 2026 will promote international defense cooperation, defense-industrial partnerships, and technological support. URC 2026 will also foster investment and cooperation opportunities between Ukrainian and Polish military industrial bases, particularly in bordering regions. The conference will also highlight the experience Ukrainians bring to the Euro-Atlantic security infrastructure and the value of their expertise in military technology, defense reform process, and strategy.
Integral parts of URC 2026:
Recovery Forum – an interactive in-person platform for Ukrainian, Polish, and international stakeholders to engage in open dialogue, share best practices, build partnerships, and explore solutions for private-sector involvement in reconstruction. Workshops will cover a wide range of practical topics to be discussed at the expert level, which are essential for advancing Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, and investment attraction.
Business Fair – featuring presentations and exhibits by Ukrainian, Polish, and international companies, fostering cooperation among local authorities, businesses of all sizes, and investors, and creating new opportunities for innovation and sustainable economic growth.
The Infrastructure Platform – will operate alongside all URC 2026 dimensions. It is structured around four pillars: 1) transport connectivity, focusing on restoring and modernizing roads, railways, ports, and future airports for integration into the TEN-T network;
2) energy resilience, emphasizing distributed generation, energy efficiency, and integration into ENTSO-e;
3) digital transformation implementing smart technologies for infrastructure management and transparent recovery;
4) progressive alignment of Ukraine’s transport, energy, border, and customs regulations with EU standards. Within the Infrastructure Platform, discussions should also address the role and investment needs of Ukraine and EU Member States in transport and energy infrastructure to strengthen Ukraine’s economic resilience, revitalize strategic trade potential, and improve defense.
The Energy Platform – will operate as a dedicated high-level dialogue bringing together governments, international financial institutions, energy companies, and investors to discuss the transformation of Ukraine's energy sector under wartime conditions and its integration into the European energy system. The Platform will focus on four interconnected pillars: 1) energy resilience and security; 2) Ukraine's new Energy Strategy; 3) state and private sector cooperation in building a new decentralized energy system; 4) investment mobilization and market development. Within the Energy Platform, the role of Ukraine and its international partners in strengthening regional energy security and advancing Ukraine's integration into European energy will be addressed.
Steering Committee and the Ministerial meeting of the Ukrainian Donor Platform.
The Think-Tank Forum is planned as a dedicated side event providing a platform for engaging diverse analytical expertise in discussions on Ukraine’s recovery. It will convene a broad range of research institutions to contribute evidence-based insights, support strategic dialogue, and inform policy approaches across key areas of reconstruction and long-term development.
The full URC 2026 program will be published soon, with online livestreaming available for remote participation.
Download the URC 2026 Concept Note