Other Projects

From 2017 the Victor Pinchuk Foundation and Yalta European Strategy have been hosting the Munich Ukrainian Lunch at the Munich Security Conference to promote Ukraine on the global security agenda and underline Ukraine’s importance for Europe’s security and the international order. The Munich Ukrainian Lunch engages a dialogue between the world decision makers and thought leaders from the security sphere on Ukraine’s role and its prospects in global security structures, as well as its greatest challenges it faces today.

Over the past five decades, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) has become a major global forum for the discussion of security policy. Each February, it brings together more than 450 senior decision and opinion makers from around the world to engage in an intensive debate on current and future security challenges.

Since 2015, the Yalta European Strategy, in partnership with the Ukrainian School of Political Studies, has held Ukrainian Regional Civil Servants Sections for 100 Ukrainian civil servants and politicians from the regions as a part of the YES Annual Meetings.

Politicians and civil servants from the regions play a crucial role in the implementing reforms in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Government places strategic priorities on decentralization, which is aimed at strengthening regional and local administrations and communities. Highly motivated young activists and public officials across Ukraine have stepped forward to help reforms to succeed. Ukrainian Regional Civil Servants Section at the YES Annual Meetings helps young regional leaders expand their ambitions and energy to transform Ukraine. It provides the carefully selected participants with international know-how and best practices, strategic and leadership insights. It enables them to build a strong network of like-minded change-makers, nationally and internationally.

Since 2008, Yalta European Strategy (YES), in cooperation with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, has provided Ukrainian young leaders with access to its Annual Meeting. Each year, YES selects 100 Ukrainian students and young professionals, including alumni of the Foundation’s scholarship programmes Zavtra.UA and WorldWideStudies, to participate in the Young Leaders Section.  

The Young Leaders Section is a discussion platform for young people to share ideas, learn from international and local professionals’ experience and develop practical solutions to meet modern challenges. The core criteria to select the young leaders are civic engagement, leadership potential and motivation to improve the country. 

The young generation of Ukrainians as those who will transform the country has been at the core of Victor Pinchuk Foundation's work since its inception in 2006. By creating a young leaders section at YES, the foundation provides this generation of change-makers with the opportunity to learn from world leaders in politics, business and the nonprofit sector.

In 2008, Yalta European Strategy, in partnership with the World Bank and European Business Association and with support of the EU Mission to Ukraine and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, held the Free Trade Area Forum: Towards the success of Ukraine’s European Project in Kyiv.

The goal of the event was to contribute to the successful process of negotiation on establishment of the Deep Free Trade area between the EU and Ukraine.

The experts who took part in the Forum included Andriy Veselovsky, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Valerii Pyatnytsky, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine; Igor Burakovsky,  Director of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting; Michael Emerson, Senior Research Fellow Centre for European Policy Studies; and Leopoldo Rubinacci, Head of Unit for Europe (non-EU) and Central Asia, European Commission.

The recommendations developed by experts during the Forum served as the base for political debates featuring Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland (1995–2005), Member of the Board of YES; Grygory Nemyrya, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and International Integration; Iryna Akimova, member of Ukrainian Parliament; and Jean-Pierre Saltiel, Member of the board of YES.

In 2007 and 2008, the Yalta European Strategy became the partner of the European Union Mission to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Ministry for Foreign Affairs in organizing Europe Days in Ukraine. Within the events, YES organized public discussions with politicians, officials and experts from the EU and Ukraine, and polled inhabitants of Kyiv, Odessa and Donetsk on their perception of the EU’s importance to Ukraine and prospects of the EU-Ukraine relations.

In 2007 and 2008, YES organized two events: The YES University, which was designed to identify, educate and engage young leaders of the next political generation, and promote a network of well-connected, knowledgeable future politicians in Ukraine and the EU member states.

The YES University (September 13th–16th ) gathered representatives of the Youth Organizations of all the Parties of the 3 major European Political Families – the European People’s Party, the European Socialists and the European Liberals – together with the similar organizations of Ukrainian Political Parties as well as other organizations representing the Ukrainian politically active Youth.

The main goal of The YES University was to establish a dialog between the representatives of different political movements of Europe and Ukraine and enhance networking between Ukrainian future political leaders and future political leaders of the EU member states.

In 2007, with the purpose of expanding the dialogue related to Ukraine's future within the EU, YES and the Renaissance International Foundation held the European Debate Forum in Ukraine’s regions (Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk), featuring prominent politicians and EU leaders, Ukrainian officials and representatives of the civil society. 

The events included a speech by Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski (1995–2005) and an open public discussion on the following subjects: Ukraine’s prospects to join the EU; why does the EU need Ukraine; and what should Ukraine and the EU do now.

National universities of Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk and the Ї publication in Lviv became the partners in organizing the European Debate Forum.