Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Yehor Perelyhin took part in the Centenary Partnership Forum between Ukraine and the United Kingdom. He joined a panel discussion alongside the UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, Chris Bryant, and participated in a roundtable with representatives of British business.
The event was held on the anniversary of the signing of the historic 100-Year Partnership Agreement between the two countries. Participants included the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Members of Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, representatives of the diplomatic corps and heads of foreign diplomatic missions, as well as the UK Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy.
“Reindustrialisation is a key element of Ukraine’s development. Ukraine must build a new economy, a new energy sector and a new industrial base, taking into account all current realities and risks. Today, the security and resilience of supply chains have become critical components of national security for the Western world. Diversifying supplies of strategic materials and components is a key priority for our partners. The United Kingdom has the technologies, expertise, capital, financial instruments and end-market demand needed to develop Ukrainian manufacturing and industrial capacity. We already have a successful example of cooperation with British insurers under the Unity Facility in the Black Sea, an experience we aim to extend to insuring onshore processing industries, as well as through the deployment of UK Export Finance. This is because we are building a genuine partnership in strategic sectors of the economy,” Yehor Perelyhin stated.
According to Yehor Perelyhin, Ukraine offers British companies a strong resource base and industrial sites that can serve as the foundation for future industrial clusters, located in close proximity to key EU markets. This creates favourable conditions for locating production in a “friend-shoring” format, including in the context of the UK–Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement.
In his remarks, the Deputy Minister also emphasised the priority of strengthening the protection of Ukraine’s energy sector and highlighted the potential for transforming the energy system—from the centralised Soviet-era model to a modern, and where possible decentralised, energy network. He stressed that this area represents a significant investment opportunity for British energy companies.
Yehor Perelyhin further underscored the complementarity inherent in the 100-year partnership between the two countries: “Ukraine offers a strong resource base, industrial potential and prospects for growth—particularly in food production, critical minerals, energy sector reconstruction and defence technology—while the United Kingdom can provide access to capital, insurance instruments and advanced technologies. Such cooperation strengthens Europe’s eastern flank and global supply chains.”
The Ministry highly values the strategic partnership with the United Kingdom and expresses its gratitude for the comprehensive support provided during Russia’s full-scale invasion. Cooperation between the two countries is a vital component of strengthening security, economic resilience and laying the foundation for Ukraine’s long-term green recovery.