“Why rebuild schools if there’s no one to study in them?” — former head of Ukraine’s State Agency for Restoration

The former head of Ukraine’s State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure, Serhiy Sukhomlyn, has said that there is currently no point in discussing the prospects for the country’s post-war reconstruction.

He made the statement in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.

According to Sukhomlyn, the scale of destruction is enormous, but no real plans or strategies for reconstruction can exist under current conditions.

“Whatever plans we draw up today, whatever strategies we write out, there is one question — guarantees after the war. What will that look like? Will it be a pause, after which the war could resume at any moment? That’s one scenario. It means there will be no investment, and after the war ends, more people will leave for Europe,” — Sukhomlyn said.

He also drew attention to a severe demographic problem that makes rebuilding social infrastructure a pointless expenditure of resources. According to him, every day new items are added to the lists of facilities requiring restoration.

“We definitely need to rebuild 10 schools in Chernihiv, in Zhytomyr, or in Kharkiv. The number of children who started first grade is 2.5 times lower than before the war. And we will face an enormous demographic problem. Why spend resources that don’t exist on rebuilding a kindergarten or a school if there will be no children?” — Sukhomlyn said.

The former official also addressed the energy question separately. He said it is necessary to understand how much electricity Ukraine will need: in August of this year, the country recorded its lowest electricity consumption in its entire history. Sukhomlyn attributes this to the shutdown of industry and a colossal reduction in the population.

Speaking about the prospects for attracting investment, he stressed that potential investors would be deterred by the inability to insure against military risks.

“No — it’s simpler to build a factory in the Czech Republic and avoid the risks. Or in the United States. For large businesses today, that is no longer a problem,” — Sukhomlyn concluded.