Enlargement of the European Union

And we work very closely together with our colleagues from the IBRD, so the public side of the World Bank, on reforms.

You have seen recently that the EU accession pass is strongly anchored for Ukraine with the first chapter now being opened.

And so reforms is really at the core of the work that we do with the aim as well to bring in private sector with the right reforms.

Let me give you a statistic.

I'm Jessica Hendrick, your researcher, producer and host of the series.

Russia is intensifying attacks on cities and critical infrastructure, just as key faces pressure on every front, from corruption and wartime elections to EU accession and a renewed US push to bring Russia and Ukraine back to the negotiating table.

Re-engage research reveals the paradox at the heart of all of this.

Ukrainians show extraordinary civic solidarity and trust in armed forces, while confidence in government remain far lower.

And indeed, our study showed that the EU enjoys the highest support among all international organizations, donors, and experts.

However, A deeper thought should be taken behind this indication and results of the research.

Ukrainians trust to the EU as a label, as an experience, and result of our positive cooperation and promise of the EU accession.

However, if situation changes, and we have these days with the concern observed results of the elections in one of German eastern federal states, It might eventually lead to the change of the policy.

Ukraine's recovery will depend not only on how much money is pledged, but whether business investors believe the country can offer stability, transparency, and institutions they can trust.

Today we look at what is holding investment back, where the strongest opportunities may emerge, and how EU accession as a process can shape Ukraine's economic future.

Today I'm delighted to welcome Anke Feldhusen, the current business ombudsman to Ukraine and former German ambassador to Kyiv.

So let's maybe start with just maybe explaining what it is that you do.

This is one of the really success stories in the market, so...

And we've seen huge investments from DTEK and other domestic players in the space as well.

So when we look at the role that the EU can play in hopefully anchoring some of these reforms, can the EU accession process still, with some issues around opening the clusters as it is, and maybe the mood music not looking quite as positive as six months ago, can can we can we still rely on the eu accession process and sort of positive and helpful pressure from the eu bringing ukraine to the table on you know corporate governance reforms especially for the state-owned enterprises i mean especially in the energy sector but also across the board we've seen some really interesting moves with the eu agreements with ukraine around military contracting reform and moving to tender-based systems But when we're looking at the broader question of investability in Ukraine and investor climate in Ukraine, what role is the EU able to play? And is that sometimes slightly overstated, or is it really as transformational as some people have described?

I think it is transformational.