Penny Pritzker exits at pivotal moment for Ukraine’s recovery
![Penny Pritzker exits at pivotal moment for Ukraine’s recovery](https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Pritzker-Ukraine_081724_AP_Nam-Huh.png?w=900)
U.S. and Ukrainian officials are working to reorient how Ukraine is handling its recovery in order to insulate it from political changes in both Washington and Kyiv without a key player: Penny Pritzker, President Biden’s special envoy for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Pritzker only planned to serve a one-year term, which ended this month. But her impact over that time is described as monumental.
“We always had, as they call it, Chicago style of doing things,” Ukraine Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin said in a brief interview with The Hill, while he described working with Pritzker.
Pritzker, born and raised in Chicago, is a billionaire heiress who served as secretary of Commerce during the Obama administration. Her family fled Ukraine in the late 19th century from the violence of the anti-Jewish pogroms of the Russian empire.
“Being short, being accurate, being exact, being straightforward is the way we do business,” Kamyshin said, describing Pritzker and explaining how they worked in their first meeting.
“She gets s‑‑‑ done,” said one Biden administration official, who spoke on background because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
“She is very direct, she is to the point, and she's very much goal-oriented, which is to say, she's no nonsense, and she identifies the problem, and then she solves it,” said Ben Harris, who worked with Pritzker during the Obama administration and is vice president and director of the economic studies program at the Brookings Institution.
Ukraine’s ability to revive, sustain and grow its economy is essential for the country to survive Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression.
Part of Putin’s strategy is to grind down Ukrainian resolve, resources and international support through a drawn-out war of attrition.
And while Ukraine has shocked Russia by launching a surprise incursion over the border in the Kursk region earlier this month, the country still suffers under aerial attacks on its civilian and energy infrastructure and has made little advancements along the roughly 620-mile front line.
“There is a saying that armies win battles, but economies win wars,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at an event in April.
Pritzker is being succeeded by Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma, a former ambassador to India and veteran Washington national security hand. A lawyer, Verma worked as chief legal officer and head of global public policy for Mastercard and as vice chair of The Asia Group consulting firm, among other roles.
Pritzker’s contribution over the past year is hard to overstate, Kamyshin said. “She was always the one who could pick up the phone and make the right talk with anyone in U.S. and as well as Ukraine. So for the new special representative it would be quite a challenge to over perform.”
Kamyshin, who has a hairstyle with shaved sides and a long, black braid running down his back, is leading his country’s effort to become a powerhouse of military production — both to supply its forces in Ukraine and serve as an arsenal for NATO, which it seeks to join.
In July, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Ukraine and Northrop Grumman signed a deal to produce medium-caliber ammunition — a landmark agreement that both Ukrainian and U.S. officials viewed as laying the groundwork for more co-production deals.
Later that month, Boeing Defense signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ukraine’s state-owned aircraft manufacturing company Antonov to collaborate on aerial drones.
Pritzker, speaking at the Brookings Institution on July 31, described the pace of defense deals as unheard of.
“The defense team has four or five deals that they're getting done in less than six months, I mean this is just like — you don't do defense deals in that period of time,” she said.
Kamyshin described those successes as part of Pritzker’s no-nonsense approach to deal making.
“[Secretary] Pritzker was always helpful, and she was not only helpful with pushing things but she was also helpful when we couldn’t understand some things why they don’t happen,” he said.
During her speech at the Brookings Institution late last month, Pritzker laid out a five-point plan for Ukraine’s economic recovery.
The plan includes Kyiv creating a government mechanism that decides which reconstruction and infrastructure projects should be prioritized, such as protecting energy infrastructure that Russia has sought to destroy.
Pritzker also called for Ukraine to do more to stop corruption, acknowledging Kyiv had passed a “bevy of tough reforms” but saying it needed to keep up the momentum.
“We support Penny’s view on further steps,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development Yulia Svyrydenko wrote in a statement to The Hill.
Harris, of Brookings, described it as a speech that called for the country to shift from a reliance on donors to a focus on attracting business and capital.
“I don't know if that was the intention, was to insulate it from political shifts, but I will say it feels like the plan was insulated from political shifts,” he said. “So you could imagine this plan being implemented regardless of who wins the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”
Whether Vice President Harris or former President Trump ends up in the White House, U.S. support for Ukraine is under strain, in particular economic assistance.
While Congress has passed five emergency supplemental aid packages for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, support has dropped with each vote — in particular among the GOP — and there’s little expectation that a sixth package will materialize before the end of the 118th Congress in January 2025.
Even among Republicans who support Ukraine, very few want to prioritize economic assistance.
"We can do two things at the same time, but we just have to make sure we prioritize them accordingly,” said Luke Coffey, a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank viewed as a key advocate for supporting Ukraine among an increasingly skeptical Republican Party.
“I understand that the secretary has a job to do, and she's been tasked with economic recovery, but to me, we should focus less on this and more on winning the war.”
Harris noted that Pritzker said in her speech that reconstruction can happen before the war ends, underscoring its urgency.
“There's no guarantee this war will be over anytime soon. I mean, some wars last for decades. I hope this one doesn't obviously,” he said.
“This war has not transpired the way we expected. We thought this was a war that was going to last a few weeks, and here we are a few years later, with no end in sight — and Ukraine actually making advances into Russia — which is something that no one had predicted. So clearly, you can't predict what's going to happen.”
Date: | |
Tag: | Ukraine |
-
The New York Times - World
Blinken Visits Kyiv During Precarious Moment in Ukraine War and U.S. Politics
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and his British counterpart, David Lammy, made a rare joint trip to Ukraine to show allied solidarity as the American presidential election looms.2 hours ago - Ukraine -
BBC News - Top stories
Six highlights from Harris-Trump debate
The 90-minute duel saw a volley of personal attacks as the rivals tussled over abortion and immigration.15 hours ago - Donald Trump -
The Guardian - World
Kate’s recovery is great news – but be wary of a soft-focus view of life after chemo | Hilary Osborne
I hope people took comfort from the royal video. But a film made after my treatment would have been greyer and grottier, perhaps more typical. I am trying to imagine what a film announcing my ...17 hours ago -
BBC News - Top stories
Watch key moments from Harris-Trump clash
The pair had a feisty first meeting, sharing personal insults and criticisms over policy.17 hours ago - Donald Trump -
Financial Times - World
People are worried about more ‘Liz Truss moments’
Don’t take everything on Truss18 hours ago - United Kingdom -
BBC News - Top stories
Who won the Harris-Trump presidential debate?
Trump couldn't resist Harris's personal digs at the debate which threw him off message, writes Anthony Zurcher.18 hours ago - Donald Trump -
Financial Times - Business
Five key moments from the Harris-Trump debate
The candidates clashed on abortion, immigration, the 2020 election, Ukraine and race19 hours ago - Donald Trump -
The Wall Street Journal - World
Five Debate Moments That Mattered Most
Kamala Harris appeared to get under Donald Trump’s skin in their first face-off.19 hours ago -
The Hill - Politics
Five memorable moments from the Trump-Harris debate
Former President Trump and Vice President Harris forcefully clashed in their first head-to-head debate Tuesday night in Philadelphia, a pivotal moment for both campaigns. The debate, which went ...20 hours ago - Donald Trump
More from The Hill
-
The Hill - Politics
Gas prices slump, marking possible good news for Harris
Oil prices hit a three-year low this week, a milestone that comes after six weeks of consecutive gasoline price decline. The drop has little to do with the Biden administration’s direct ...38 minutes ago -
The Hill - Politics
Defense hawks oppose House GOP's six-month CR plan
House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) Plan B for a stopgap federal spending bill is a no go if it still includes a six-month time frame, according to GOP defense hawks. “I wouldn't vote for anything ...1 hour ago -
The Hill - Politics
GSA says 337K Taylor Swift referrals have come to vote.gov
More than 330,000 visitors have flocked to vote.gov by way of pop superstar Taylor Swift’s postdebate endorsement of Vice President Harris, according to the General Services Administration (GSA). ...1 hour ago -
The Hill - Politics
The factors contributing to high parental stress
Click in for more news from The Hill {beacon} Health Care Health Care The Big Story The stress factors for parents that sparked a federal warning U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an ...1 hour ago -
The Hill - Politics
RFK Jr. suggests independent support for Trump will drop in wake of debate
Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested Wednesday that former President Trump’s debate performance could have an impact on independent support, saying polling next ...1 hour ago - Donald Trump