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The Federal Council has approved negotiating mandate for an international treaty between Switzerland and Ukraine to create a legal basis to enable the Swiss private sector to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
This is said in a press release published on the Swiss government website, Ukrinform reports.
“At its meeting on 29 January, the Federal Council approved the negotiating mandate for an international treaty between Switzerland and Ukraine. In the process of rebuilding Ukraine, this will provide a legal basis for increased cooperation with the Swiss private sector,” the document says.
It is noted that the challenges involved in rebuilding Ukraine are huge and “support cannot be provided in the form of traditional international cooperation alone”. Thus, the private sector will play an important role in reconstructing Ukraine. To strengthen cooperation with Swiss companies already operating in Ukraine, a memorandum of understanding between Switzerland and Ukraine was signed on January 23 at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos.
“A new legal basis is required in order to boost cooperation with Swiss companies that are not yet active in Ukraine. On 20 November last year, the Federal Council decided that this basis should take the form of a temporary international treaty (subject to referendum), and on 29 January it approved the negotiating mandate for such a treaty between Switzerland and Ukraine,” the document reads.
The Federal Council will consult Parliament’s foreign policy committees over the negotiating mandate.
As reported by Ukrinform, on June 26, 2024, the Federal Council approved the sum of CHF 500 million to involve the Swiss private sector more closely in the reconstruction of Ukraine. These measures are part of Switzerland’s Ukraine country programme 2025-2028, which is currently being finalized. A total of CHF 1.5 billion has been earmarked to support Ukraine with a range of international cooperation instruments.
