10:35 29.01.2020

Ukrainian House in Davos plans another expansion at WEF 2021

3 min read

KYIV. Jan 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian House in Davos, the area of which for the period of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in January 2020 was increased to 300 square meters compared with 200 square meters a year ago, plans further expansion for the next year.

"The area of our multi-format space this year was 10 times larger than the first year of the Ukrainian House in Davos [2018], which allowed us to host the largest number of guests today. Moreover, new potential sponsors have already shown their interest in participating in projects," said Svitlana Hrytsenko of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.

The organizers, which, in addition to the Pinchuk Foundation, again acted as the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) and Horizon Capital, confirmed the increase in the budget for the Ukrainian House this year, without mentioning its absolute value.

"We managed to enlist the support of 13 sponsors – what is more than ever before," added Hrytsenko. The main ones were the Temerty Foundation, TIU Canada, MHP, NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy.

According to the Ukrainian House, during 94 hours of its work, 16 discussions were held with speakers from 12 countries, and the total number of guests, taking into account evening receptions and events of cultural diplomacy, exceeded 8,000 people. In addition, online broadcasts from the Ukrainian House in Davos on social networks collected almost 400,000 views on Facebook.

According to Lenna Koszarny, the founding partner and CEO of Horizon Capital, this year the interest in Ukraine at the WEF has significantly grown, which was confirmed by the speech of President Volodymyr Zelensky in the main program of the forum – for the second time in history after President Viktor Yushchenko.

"If earlier we used to run after investors, now they themselves are interested in Ukraine," she said, calling the first successful concession tenders and the unfreezing of privatization among positive changes.

President and CEO of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund Jaroslawa Johnson added that this time the Ukrainian House included two venues - one public for discussions and evening receptions, where the meeting of the National Council was held, and the second - for bilateral and other meetings, which was used by President Zelensky and Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk.

According to Johnson, the organizers of the Ukrainian House are considering options to change its location to improve its work.

One of the ideas for next year, according to participants, is to more actively involve representatives of the government and other authorities in the work of the Ukrainian House, who could work immediately with potential investors on the spot.

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