Other Activities

Events that will accompany the 16-th YES Annual Meeting.

Apart from the main conference, YES will also hold events outside of the main conference hall.

Ukrainian Regional Civil Servants Section at the YES Annual Meetings

Since 2015, the Yalta European Strategy, in partnership with the Ukrainian School of Political Studies (USPS), has held the Ukrainian Regional Civil Servants Section. This platform brings together 100 Ukrainian civil servants and politicians from the regions as part of the YES Annual Meetings.

Politicians and civil servants from the regions play a crucial role in the implementation of reforms in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Government places strategic priority on decentralization, which is aimed at strengthening communities as well as regional and local administrations. 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. The conference is moderated by the former Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine (2014) Pavlo Sheremeta.

Among the speakers at the Forum of Ukrainian Regional Civil Servants during 2016-2018 were 23rd US Secretary of Defense (2011-2013) and Director of the CIA (2009-2011) Leon Panetta; Vice-President of the European Parliament Ryszard Czarnecki; 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich; Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy NATO Tacan Ildem; Assistant Administrator of USAID for Europe & Eurasia Thomas Melia; Vice Prime Minister, Minister of the Regional Development, Building and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine Hennadiy Zubko; Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze; Minister of Finances of Ukraine (2016-2018) Oleksandr Danyliuk; Mayor of Hlukhiv Michel Terestchenko; Minister of Finance of Ukraine (2014-2016) Natalie Jaresko; President of the Centre for Economic Development Oleksandr Paskhaver; Director-President, International Commercial TV Company (ICTV Channel) Oleksandr Bohutskyy; Inventor, Author, Futurist Ray Kurzweil; 66th U.S. Secretary of State (2005-2009) Condoleezza Rice; Senior Fellow, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute Andrey Illarionov; U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2012-2014); Stanford Professor and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Michael McFaul; Prime Minister of the French Republic (2014-2016) Manuel Valls; Leader of the Civic Position party, Minister of Defense of Ukraine (2005-2007) Аnatoliy Grytsenko; President of the European Parliament (2002-2004), Member of the YES Board Pat Cox; Founder of Rasmussen Global, Secretary General of NATO (2009-2014), Prime Minister of Denmark (2001-2009) Anders Fogh Rasmussen; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005-2006) John Bolton; Director and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University Michael McFall; 68th U.S. Secretary of State (2013-2017) John Kerry; U.S. Secretary of Defense (2006-2011) Robert Gates; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2010-2016) David Cameron; CEO and President, IronNet Cybersecurity, Commander, U.S. Cyber Command (2010-2014) and Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service (2005-2014) Gen. Keith Alexander (U.S. Army, Ret.), and others.

Young Leaders at the YES Annual Meeting

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 and develop practical solutions to meet modern challenges. The core selection criteria for the young leaders are civic engagement, leadership potential and motivation to improve the country. Over 700 of the best Ukrainian students and young leaders have participated in the Young Leaders Section since its launch.

Empowering the younger generations of Ukrainians to take a role in transforming the country has been at the core of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation's work since its inception in 2006. By creating a young leaders’ section at the YES, the foundation provides this generation of change-makers with the opportunity to learn from world leaders in politics, business and the nonprofit sector.

Past speakers to young leaders at YES have included prominent Ukrainian and international politicians, opinion-makers and civil society leaders, such as Tony Blair, Richard Branson, David Cameron, Valdis Dombrovskis, Bill Ford, Robert Gates, Elton John, John Kerry, Vitaliy Klitschko, Bernard-Henry Levi, David H. Petraeus, Petro Poroshenko, Condoleeza Rice, Karl Rove, Ildem Tacan, Muhammad Yunus, Fareed Zakaria and others.

You can also attend our open nightcap discussions.