I guess one thing I’m asking is what goods/services does or could Ukraine sell that people in wealthy western nations with a grudge against Russia could buy to help rebuild their economy?
For example, Ukraine has a medical tourism industry and people could pick Ukraine for medical tourism over places like India, Thailand, Mexico, etc.
They could also sell their surplus AK-47 rifles to civilians in the west after converting them into semi-auto fire, since they’re moving away from that small arms platform. I’m sure small business owners could have a lot of minor items for global export.
There are likely very nice vacation spots in Ukraine for tourists to visit after this is all over.
In the end it’ll take large companies investing in Ukraine to rebuild their economy, hopefully western governments incentivize that but I’m wondering what individuals can do other than the above and/or donating money.
Gun control advocates in America would fight this tooth and nail (and I’m not here to debate whether these rifles should or shouldn’t be legal) but if it was approved, I think every single one would fly off the shelves. And collectors would definitely pay a premium price for rifles that were actually used in combat, with a certificate of authenticity or something.
It depends so much as to what the geographical situation is at the end of the war.
Hopefully they will retain as much as possible, or all of this resource. With free access to export.
A lot of their heavy industry was attacked. Especially anything military related. But not all. They may be able to refocus on what is left. A tighter focus can be more effective. Natural resources will still be in place. I personally think all countries should concentrate more on adding maximum value to resources before exporting.
So many Ukrainians fled. How many come back? This will have a big influence on what they can do immediately. Experienced people for industry.
What help will be offered? When the war is over, I would hope at least the equivalent value in weapons money will be poured in for rebuild. This will at the lowest level provide jobs, income. Emphasis on Ukraine sourced material and labor at all levels. Put in money and make sure as much as possible stays in. This will help restart a lot of the internal economy.
If money is spent to rebuild factories, resource systems, wisely, it can set the base for Ukraine having a most modern, efficient, economic base. Build Back Better. Similar to after the Second World War.
Ukraine produced 21 millions of tons of steel in 2021, in decrease constantly from a higher point of 35 millions in 2011.
That’s about a third of russia’s or a quarter of the US, 14th world place.
It may sound macabre, but I would imagine that some sort of battlefield tourism might be something they could make money on from history buffs, military wonks, and historians.
Sort of a bus tour kind of deal, where they’d get actual Ukrainian veterans to describe what happened where, etc… and maybe see some rusting Russian tank hulks, bomb craters, and so forth.
I suspect the reason we don’t see this elsewhere is because most of the combat in recent decades has been in inhospitable places like Iraq, eastern Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan, etc… But Ukraine’s temperate and West-friendly, so I would imagine something like this could actually work.
Right now they are raising thousands of euros by auctioning off the rights to slogans and personal messages to be written on out-going armaments. Like we did in WW2:
Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were already being talked up as “city break” tourist destinations before all this (if not yet in the stag/hen weekend lists), and no doubt there are Black Sea beach resorts. But how much reconstruction would be needed before that becomes viable again, who knows? And whether tourism could ever be a major economic contributor…?
