The Positive Economic Impact of Ukrainians Abroad - A Chat with a Former Deputy Economic Minister

Over 6 mn Ukrainians fled their homeland after the full-scale invasion and have since settled abroad, mostly in Europe. In country after country, Ukrainians economic and financial contribution far outpaces the social support provided to them by those countries. To delve into this story, specifically as it pertains to the US, I had a very informative discussion with Oleksandr Romanishyn, a former Deputy Minister of Economy and current head of the think tank ISE group. He launched an Impact Study into Ukrainians' contribution to the US economy, which is far more substantial than I possibly could have imagined. Oleksandr Romanyshin is a policymaker and economist, having served as Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine (2020-2021). He is currently a Board Member of ISE Group and an Advisor to the Ukrainian American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UACCI). With over 15 years of experience spanning government, IFIs, and corporate finance, he has contributed to Ukraine’s post-war recovery strategy, including inputs to the European Commission’s €50 billion Ukraine Facility. He was engaged in M&A and corporate finance in such companies as EY, Volwest Group, and Midland Group. He was the head of the World Bank's private sector development project in Ukraine. Beyond that, Oleksandr has published critical work on disinformation, the state of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and local governance - all of which we discussed in the podcast. Links as noted in the podcast:Impact Study: https://ise-group.org/impact-studyPlatform UA2USA: https://ua2usa.org/ ISE's work on disinformation: https://ise-group.org/disinformationAI and disinformation policy paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/artificial-intelligence/articles/10.3389/frai.2025.1569115 To connect and message with Mark on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcnamee-58950910 To learn more, visit:https://ubn.network/ Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/ If you found this episode valuable, follow the podcast and share it with someone who wants to better understand the war in Ukraine.