The National Bank of Ukraine and Narodowy Bank Polski are pleased to announce the 9th Annual Research Conference, titled Economic and Financial Integration in a Stormy and Fragmenting World.

This high-level event will bring together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to explore the challenges and opportunities of economic and financial integration in today’s increasingly volatile global environment.

Amid intensifying geopolitical and economic disruptions—most notably Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine—the issue of integration has become more urgent than ever. Growing global fragmentation underscores the need to reassess the mechanisms and implications of financial and economic integration, both for the global economy and for individual countries.

We are honored to announce keynote addresses by:

  • Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (online);
  • Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics and Maurits C. Boas Chair of International Economics, Harvard University

Their insights will provide valuable perspectives on the evolving landscape of global integration in an era of mounting uncertainty.

The conference will take place over two days:

  • Day 1 (19 June) will be dedicated to high-level policy discussions, held exclusively onsite at the conference hotel venue in Kyiv, encouraging direct engagement among academics, policymakers, and senior financial officials.
  • Day 2 (20 June) will feature both research and policy sessions in a hybrid format, allowing participation either onsite at the National Bank of Ukraine or virtually.

To attend virtually, please register using the link below.


Registration (ZOOM)


Registration for session 1A (ZOOM)
Watch live on YouTube:
Day 1 (19 June)

Day 2 (20 June)
AGENDA
Спікери
With the support of

GIZ

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a state organization of the Federal Republic of Germany, which acts on behalf of the German Government and the European Commission in about 120 countries around the world and implements international technical assistance projects in various sectors. GIZ has been supporting Ukraine since 1993. It has had an office in Kyiv since 2009 and operates across the country. GIZ’s work in Ukraine is carried out on behalf of five German ministries, the European Union (EU), and various other institutions and co-founders. The core areas are: “Good governance”, “Resilient society, Economic development” and “Energy and climate change mitigation”.

The international cooperation Program ReACT4UA (“Utilization and Implementation of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine in the Field of Trade”) is funded by the German Government and implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). This Program aims to create better conditions for the development of Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to support innovation and boost exports, which is the path to sustainable and consistent economic growth. To achieve these objectives, the Program’s team provides advisory support to its political partner – the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine in implementing the provisions of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, developing of the National Export Strategy, the National Intellectual Property Strategy, and the National Standardization Strategy. In this context the issue of improving SMEs’ access to financial services, including grants and loans, gained a lot of attention.

With a strong focus on financial sector reform as well as access to finance, the Program cooperates closely with the National Bank of Ukraine, the Export Credit Agency, the Business Development Fund, with the banking associations and several financial institutions. The further development and transformation of Ukraine’s financial sector on its path to EU accession is thus playing a crucial role for example in the further implementation of standards and regulatory requirements. Also, the new STEP-IN-2-EU Program, which will be implemented by GIZ in the upcoming three years, is picking up these challenges of the Ukrainian financial sector – in view of both, financial sector stability and improving SMEs’ financial inclusion.

For additional information about the Program's activities, visit the following page: https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/138491.html

International Monetary Fund

Ukraine became a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1992. The main areas of Ukraine’s and the NBU’s cooperation with the IMF are as follows: cooperation related to the programs that support the balance of payments (the stand-by arrangement and the extended fund facility), annual consultations under Article IV of the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, technical assistance, and other activities envisaged by Ukraine’s membership of the IMF.

The IMF has been supporting Ukraine since the full-scale invasion broke out. In March 2022, Ukraine received USD 1.4 billion in aid within the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). In October, the IMF provided USD 1.3 billion in additional assistance under the RFI’s food shock window to help countries survive the food crisis triggered by russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. In March 2024, the IMF approved a 48-month extended arrangement for Ukraine under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with an amount of SDR 11.6 billion (or about USD 15.6 billion).

Gita Gopinath, who served as a keynote speaker last year, and other IMF-affiliated speakers—including Damien Capelle, Christopher Erceg, Davide Furceri, Jesper Linde, Maurice Obstfeld, Jonathan Ostry, Vladyslav Rashkovan, Uma Ramakrishnan, Antonio Spilimbergo, and Olga Stankova—have joined the event in previous years.

More information