Facing camera from L-R: Igor Bartikiv, LCCI; Tom Sleigh, Barbican Centre; Andrew Marsden, World Trader and  Sherriff of the City of London; and Richard Burge, World Trader and CEO LCCI.

In late January, Court Assistants Andrew Marsden, Sheriff of the City of London and Richard Burge, CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry travelled to Ukraine to reinforce the importance of international cooperation for the country’s recovery. In doing so, they highlighted the importance of personal relationships in world trade and demonstrated their support for the people of Ukraine.

Andrew and Richard travelled to Kyiv and Lviv to meet with Ukrainian ministers, senior officials, city leaders, Chambers of Commerce and local businesses to build the economic relationships that will help the UK play a major role in driving the eventual and all-important reconstruction of Ukraine.

Representing London, the pre-eminent global city for business, they emphasised the collective support that the City’s business community wishes to extend to Ukraine and its people, working to finalise new agreements to boost cooperation, and lay the groundwork for a future of shared British-Ukrainian prosperity.

They discussed how London and the UK can be instrumental in the reconstruction of Ukraine, and agreed that planning discussions should take place now in order to secure Ukraine’s future prosperity.  The City of London Corporation and LCCI are fully committed to building stronger partnerships with Ukrainian businesses and the Ukrainian government to lay the foundations for greater trade, investment, skill-sharing, and support – all key for Ukraine’s future success.

Richard Burge said:

“I was blown away by the resilience and determination of the people in Ukraine to keep pushing, adapting and carrying on and I am in no doubt of the importance of making Ukraine’s access to the London’s deep capital markets a top priority. London and Ukraine share innovative tech sectors and impressive financial services and the conditions for connections to flourish are critical to kickstarting Ukraine’s economic recovery. London and all other global cities must continue to commit to involving themselves with the incredible businesses of Ukraine as much as possible.”

Andrew Marsden added:

“It was an honour to visit Lviv and Kyiv, Ukraine, with the London Chamber delegation and witness first-hand the continued resilience of Ukraine. An emotive trip with the focus on how we can rebuild Ukraine together by accelerating the attraction of financing for the reconstruction of Ukrainian communities and investments to the cities and regions. It was inspiring to see the innovative business response of the Ukrainians. Together with the LCCI, the City of London Corporation will continue to do all it can to support Ukraine and stand up to Russian aggression.” 

During the visit, LCCI also signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ukrainian Chambers of Commerce which agrees that both Chambers will establish a joint business council as an essential tool to engender bilateral business activities and support for the benefit of both countries.

Read accompanying article, ‘Plans to rebuild Ukraine’s economy have to start now‘ written by Court Assistant Richard Burge. Originally published in The Times on Thursday, 16 February 2023.