Poland to establish Council on Cooperation with Ukraine to deal with reconstruction issues

The Polish government will create a Council on Cooperation with Ukraine, which will include representatives of science, business, government, and local self-government.

PAP reports that Paweł Kowal, the future chairman of this Council and the chairman of the Sejm's Commission on Foreign Affairs, announced this.

"The Prime Minister has already signed the order, and the Council on Cooperation with Ukraine will be created. The Prime Minister has appointed me as its head. It will be a public body, which will include representatives of science, business, government, and local self-government. Its composition will be completed in the coming weeks," Kowal said.

The Polish politician added that the Council would have its own office and working groups, which would be formed shortly, as well as a list of their duties.

In addition, the Council will have its own secretariat and its functioning will be handled by the Office of the Prime Minister of Poland.

Kowal noted that this institution will work on involving Poland in reconstructing Ukraine. It will cooperate with Polish analytical centers:

• Polish Institute of Economics,
• Center for Oriental Studies.

The politician said that a branch of the Council will be opened in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, which borders Ukraine, as issues of cross-border cooperation will be an element of cooperation with Ukraine.

According to him, the institution will comprehensively approach Polish-Ukrainian relations.

"We assess that they are exceptional not only because of historical issues but also because of Poland's involvement in helping to protect Ukraine and Poland's role in the process of its reconstruction," Kowal emphasized.

He added that the Council should facilitate the participation of as many Polish companies, self-governing bodies, and non-governmental organizations as possible in rebuilding Ukraine.

We will remind that the needs for the reconstruction of Ukraine already amount to almost $486 billion. These are the results of the third damage and needs assessment (RDNA3), which the Ukrainian government conducted jointly with the World Bank.

"Over the past year, the need for reconstruction has continued to grow. Especially in the housing sector, where 10% of the entire housing stock has been destroyed or damaged due to the actions of the enemy," the message states.

The government emphasized that negative dynamics are also present in the agricultural sector and ecology — due to the Russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and the mining of Ukrainian lands.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, believes that the main resource for Ukraine's recovery should be the confiscation of frozen Russian assets.

"We should start this process already this year. We consider the use of income from the assets of the Russian Federation as a possible interim solution that does not eliminate the need for full confiscation," the head of government said.