Insourcing the war-economy: building a resilient Ukraine means maximising its domestic output

PeaceRep’s Ukraine programme are extensively involved in providing analysis, evidence and data to prepare discussions at the London Ukraine Recovery Conference, 21st – 22nd June 2023. As part of this work, I recently undertook a study trip to Kyiv. With support and assistance from the Kyiv Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the Kyiv School of Economics, US Aid Economic Resilience Activity and Ukraine Industry Expertise, I met government officials, civil society activists, trade unions, and academics, and made a number of visits to industrial sites in the Kyiv Oblast region to see their challenges up close. In this policy brief, I argue that the Government of Ukraine should pursue policies that prioritise Ukraine’s economic resilience and mitigate against the risk of balance of payments crisis in the event that there is a significant reduction in donor support. The starting point for this analysis is that markets cannot function in wartime. The Ukrainian state therefore needs to embrace its inevitably central role as the coordinator of an integrated war-economy.