New York, New York – Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a closed-door public-private sector roundtable focused on meeting Ukraine’s immediate energy needs and ensuring its long-term energy security.
In his remarks, President Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of long-term engagement “between businesses of the United States and Ukraine.”
Today’s roundtable was held on the periphery of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and hosted by the Chamber in partnership with Bank of America. It was attended by government and business leaders including USAID Administrator Samantha Power, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma, the CEOs of GE Vernova, Westinghouse, Baker Hughes, Holtec, Invenergy, Marsh McLennan, Citi, Aon, and Techmet, and Caterpillar’s President of Energy.
Chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Mark Ordan said, “U.S. support for Ukraine is not philanthropy; it's an investment in U.S. economic and national security, and in the fate of global democracy. Ukraine’s energy security is critical to its ability to maintain defensive capability, prevent humanitarian disaster, and facilitate commercial activity. Ukraine has the long-term potential to become a pillar of Europe’s energy security through natural gas, oil reserves, hydrogen, and renewable energy. Realizing this potential is only possible with private-sector partnership across the energy value chain as well as with the financial institutions enabling and investing in these projects. The challenges ahead are vast, but so are the resilience of the Ukrainian people, and the commitment of the U.S. business community.”
The roundtable builds on U.S. Chamber efforts to realize a peaceful, prosperous Ukraine through the Ukraine Business Initiative, dedicated to facilitating U.S. companies’ participation in Ukraine’s reconstruction and modernization, and creating a competitive market landscape in post-war Ukraine.
Today’s engagement is part of the U.S. Chamber’s dynamic programming at UNGA, which includes 18 high-level conversations with top government officials, with over half being meetings with heads of state and government, from countries including Türkiye, Egypt, Nigeria, the UAE, Colombia, and Kuwait.
