podcast
“The Zero Hour”
Interview with Zelenskyi’s economic adviser: “Reconstruction of Ukraine will cost hundreds of billions of dollars”
Zelenskyi adviser Alexander Rodnyansky
© Oliver Ziebe / DPA
Alexander Rodnyansky is economic adviser to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. In the podcast he talks about the oil and gas embargo, a possible Marshall Plan for Ukraine – and why there is at least some hope in agriculture.
When Ukraine’s new government was elected in 2019, a team of young Ukrainians from around the world wrote the political program – and Alexander Rodnynansky, who is an assistant professor at Cambridge, was in charge of the economy.
Today he advises President Volodymyr Zelenskyj directly, but the issues have changed dramatically: It’s about arms deliveries and the European embargo on Russian gas and oil. “In the medium term we are sure that there will be a change – and that Europe will replace these resources from Russia,” said Alexander Rodnyansky in the podcast “The hour zero.” Nevertheless, the decisions were currently “rather bumpy”, he thinks. While he can understand some of the reasons why, he believes the long-term consequences of dependence on Russia’s raw materials could be “much more devastating.” The conflict could escalate further and go beyond Ukrainian borders.
hope in agriculture
Despite the brutal escalation of the war in recent days, Rodnyansky is already thinking about reconstruction – a kind of Marshall Plan. The damage caused by the war is difficult to quantify because the destruction continued. “But it’s very clear that it’s hundreds of billions that we’re going to need to rebuild everything.” The International Monetary Fund forecasts a slump in Ukraine’s gross domestic product of around 35 percent. “It’s a disaster for the whole economy and for people’s incomes,” Rodnyansky said.
The economic consultant, who grew up in Germany, gave a little hope at least in one area: in agriculture, where massive crop failures have been feared for weeks. About 85 percent of all agricultural land has been sown, he reported, and there is also a high demand for loans in the agricultural sector – which shows that economic activity is continuing. “I wouldn’t expect the normal harvest, but it’s still being produced.”
Also, listen to the new episode of “Zero Hour”:
- An interview with Viessmann Managing Director Max Viessmann about the question of how we can now quickly replace millions of heaters
- An update like that Exchanges on the gas contingency plan react – have they really digested the shock?
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