NTU «KhPI» «brought» a harvest of agreements for Ukraine from a large-scale European summit in Romania

The delegation of NTU «KhPI» took part in the «Three Seas Initiative Summit and 3SI Business Forum» held in Romania. The event was aimed at developing transport, energy and digital infrastructure, creating the investment and innovation opportunities for business success and socio-economic development both in the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Sea region and beyond. Among the participating countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, as well as representatives of the European Commission, the United States, Germany and Ukraine. As a result of the event, NTU «KhPI» reached agreements on further cooperation in the educational and scientific fields, as well as the development of Startups.

 

«The Three Seas Initiative Summit and 3SI Business Forum» was opened by Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. He noted that countries need to act quickly and resolutely to invest in their collective infrastructure: «This will strengthen our region and help to reduce the challenges we face. We need to connect our region in terms of infrastructure, economy, common defense and digital sector and thus use for maximum of the regional potential».

In total, the event consisted of three sections (energy, transport and digital) and a roundtable discussion concerning  trade and investment. Among the priority topics discussed by the participants were: energy security, diversification of routes and sources of energy supply in the region, alternative energy, creation of energy infrastructure and use of innovative technologies, as well as new investments in the transport, energy, digital, science and security sectors.

The working expert group from Ukraine included, in particular, representatives of Kharkiv Polytechnic: Sergiy Buryakovsky, Director of the «Molniya» Scientific and Developmental Design and Construction Institute of NTU «KhPI»; Olena Sergienko, Professor of the department of Entrepreneurship, Trade and Logistics of NTU «KhPI», Director of the Open Innovation Platform for Entrepreneurial Initiatives and Investment Projects «PRO SMART BIZ», Managing Director of «Ukrainian Technology Transfer Tim» LLC; and Andriy Smorodin, Partner of NTU «KhPI» and Chairman of the association of transport infrastructure Innovations of Ukraine.

As part of the summit, representatives of the Ukrainian delegation agreed on cooperation with 3SI and the formation of the Ukrainian 3SI platform with the involvement of the most qualified Ukrainian and international experts, as well as ensuring political support for the most realistic projects and those that will have the greatest impact on the entire region.

In particular, during the discussions at the business forum, partners and investors called for a move beyond the negative effects of conflicts, pandemics, energy price crises and supply chain disruptions and proposed innovative ways to accept and respond to the economic reality emerging in this geopolitical context.

Strengthening a sustainable, affordable and green energy system, including for Ukraine, was also among the key issues discussed at the 3SI Business Forum. The event was attended by the US President’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, John Kerry, who noted that the transition to clean energy could be a driver of prosperity for the Three Seas Region. He also announced NEXT, a one-stop shop to support the deployment of small modular nuclear reactors in partner countries.

Of great interest to the European Union and NATO was the topic of «Investing in a Sustainable Tomorrow», which was discussed in the Transport Section of the 3SI Business Forum. It was about consolidating European economies and ensuring military mobility on NATO’s Eastern flank. This can be effectively achieved through the implementation of two important transnational projects: «Rail2Sea and Via Carpatia», which aim to connect the Baltic, Black and Aegean Seas. In the road sector, Via Carpatia will provide transport routes that will pass through Romania on new high-speed roads, while for rail transport, the Rail2Sea project will provide new connections between the western border and the port of Constanta, as well as a southern route.

 

As a result of the meetings within the framework of the Three Seas Initiative Summit and 3SI Business Forum, representatives of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute reached a number of agreements for further cooperation. These include communication with the Politecnico di Milano to draw up and sign a memorandum; cooperation with the COURSERA administrative in Ukraine to increase student engagement, open new joint projects, including those aimed at vulnerable groups and retraining of military personnel after service, war veterans, and engaging NTU «KhPI» teachers through grants to translate courses into Ukrainian and adapt them to Ukrainian realities; development and support of startups and business projects of students and postgraduates of NTU «KhPI», attraction of initial investments from Latvian specialized organizations (inclusion of their representatives in the jury of various competitions and events) with further relocation of projects to the Baltic States.

They also outlined the promising and priority areas of Ukrainian-Latvian economic cooperation: the involvement of NTU «KhPI» profile scientists in scientific, technical, and infrastructure projects aimed at building and developing the activities of the Ukrainian Platform of the Three Seas Initiative. Kharkiv Polytechnic specialists will join the Association of Transport Infrastructure Innovations of Ukraine and other organizations representing the Platform in Ukraine.

In addition, representatives of Kharkiv Polytechnic met with Sorin Grindeanu, Minister of Transport of Romania. It was proposed to involve NTU «KhPI», namely the Scientific and Developmental Design and Construction Institute «Molniya», in solving the problems of electromagnetic compatibility of port and railway junctions.

In general, the events are expected to result in decisions on issues that focus on priority areas for transatlantic cooperation, which have investment objectives and are of interest to EU and NATO member states. These include the energy sector (with a focus on the green transition and the use of hydrogen as a renewable energy source), the development of rail and road transport networks, as well as future challenges in terms of digitalisation, cybersecurity, and the security of artificial intelligence.

Note:

The Three Seas Initiative Summit and 3SI Business Forum was held in Bucharest, Romania, on 6-7 September 2023. This is the second time Romania has hosted this event, organized by the Presidential Administration of Romania, the Government of Romania through the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Three Seas Initiative is a flexible and informal policy platform that brings together 12 EU Member States (Austria,  the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Croatia) located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas, and aims to improve connectivity between them. Partners of the event: European Commission, the USA, Germany. Ukraine was a partner with a special status. The event takes place once a year and consists of the 3SI Heads of State Summit and the Business Forum, where specific projects are presented and approved.

NTU «KhPI» has been cooperating with the Three Seas Summit and Business Forum for a year. The Association of Transport Infrastructure Innovations of Ukraine and NTU «KhPI» Science Park as its co-founder organized the participation of the Ukrainian delegation in the Summit and Business Forum in Riga, where the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke.

The cooperation also included coordination events in Ukraine with the participation of government, business, research and educational institutions:

  • «From the Three Seas Initiative to the creation of an innovation cluster of the Lviv region» (August 3, 2022), where a memorandum on the development of 3SI was signed;
  • «International Round Table of the Three Seas Initiative in Ukraine» (March 9, 2023);
  • participation in the IX meeting of the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Latvian Commission on Economic, Industrial and Scientific-Technical Cooperation (March 23, 2023, Riga, Latvia);
  • participation in the III Congress of Local Self-Government 3SI under the patronage of the President of Poland, where the scientific platform was presented (May 16-17, 2023);

– two scientific conferences were held to discuss 3SI issues: II International Scientific and Practical Conference «Transport: Science and Practice», XV International Scientific and Practical Conference «Globalisation of Scientific and Educational Space. Innovations in the field of transport. Problems, experience, prospects».