Industrial іntegration in the EU Accession Context: Lessons from Poland, opportunities for Ukraine

Video broadcast in Polish:

Centre for Economic Strategy (Ukraine) and Stefan Batory Foundation (Poland) invite you to join a roundtable discussion on the sidelines of the Rebuild Ukraine 2025 forum.

The event will take place on 13 November 2025, 09:00–10:00 (СET), at the Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw (ul. Sapieżyńska 10a), and will be streamed online with translation.

As Ukraine advances toward EU accession, aligning its industrial policy with the European framework becomes a strategic priority. Industrial competitiveness will define how effectively Ukraine integrates into the Single Market – not only through trade, but through innovation, technological upgrading, and cross-border value chains.

Poland’s experience offers invaluable insights. Over the past two decades, Poland has successfully used EU cohesion policy, smart specialization strategies, and state aid mechanisms to foster competitive industrial ecosystems. For Ukraine, this trajectory provides a model for balancing liberalization with targeted industrial support while avoiding protectionism incompatible with EU rules.

The discussion will focus on two interlinked dimensions:

• Poland’s Industrial Policy Experience — identifying which instruments, institutions, and regulatory frameworks (e.g., cluster policies, innovation hubs, regional aid maps) have supported strategic industries and how these can inform Ukraine’s adaptation to the EU acquis.
• Polish-Ukrainian Industrial Clusters — exploring sectors where bilateral cooperation can deepen. The session will highlight how joint clusters, cross-border projects, and EU programs (Interreg, Horizon Europe, InvestEU) can drive integration and resilience.

This session aims to connect policymakers, business associations, and experts shaping industrial transformation on both sides of the border, ensuring that industry becomes a cornerstone of Ukraine’s EU-oriented recovery. List of speakers:

• Nataliia Kolesnichenko, Senior Economist at Centre for Economic Strategy;
• Piotr Maszczyk (PhD), Head of the Macroeconomics and Public Economics Unit, Warsaw School of Economics;
• Taras Pylypiuk, CEO Modern Expo S.A.;
• Bogdan Zawadewicz, Head of Geopolitical Risk Analysis, Polish Development Bank (BGK).

The event is produced by Centre for Economic Strategy and Stefan Batory Foundation with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as a part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine – a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden.