All,
It’s been a very busy week, and I’m just grabbing a few minutes to try and summarize everything (apologies if I miss something 🙂).
The week began with the G7 Leaders’ Summit, where world leaders reaffirmed their support for Ukraine. That was followed by the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which brings together governments, financial institutions, and business leaders focused on Ukraine’s defense, recovery, and long-term reconstruction.
For the third consecutive year, LP has been one of just three U.S. companies representing American business at the conference, alongside Northrop Grumman and Palantir. Representatives from major global companies such as Siemens, Philips, and Vestas, as well as many of Ukraine’s leading businesses, also participated. It is a big deal, and Derek and I are honored to be part of it.
One of the highlights for us was signing an agreement with UkraineInvest, the investment promotion agency of the Ukrainian government. Through this partnership, UkraineInvest will open its first overseas office, located within the LP/Berlin Bridges office that Derek has established in downtown Manhattan. This will give the Ukrainian government closer access to U.S. businesses looking to explore opportunities in Ukraine.
The New York location is especially meaningful. Many of these discussions naturally happen in Washington, D.C., and Ukraine already has an important government presence there. But, as I mentioned during the signing ceremony, the United States has always been the Land of Opportunity, and New York City remains the financial capital of the country. As Ukraine increasingly becomes a land of opportunity itself, we’re hopeful this office will help facilitate conversations, partnerships, and investments that support both Ukraine’s defense today and its reconstruction tomorrow. 🤞
I also had the chance to visit with Slawek and our Gdańsk team and enjoy a quick dinner together. It’s always great spending time with our teams. I love their energy and spirit, and they’re continuing to grow. It’s amazing to think we’ve been in Poland for more than 25 years now. I still remember first meeting Paweł in Rzeszów, and I’m grateful he’s still such an important part of our efforts in Poland and across Europe.
We also attended a dinner hosted by our good friends at the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), where we were treated to a beautiful performance by Ukrainian Army veterans. During the evening, we were fortunate to win a painting created by one of the veterans during the charity auction. It was later signed by Oksana Markarova, the former Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, and will hang proudly in our Kyiv office.
Finally, Derek and I were able to spend time this week with Petro and Oksana Fedorov, two of our favorite people, who continue to be deeply involved in supporting Ukraine and a number of other LP initiatives around the world. We truly have wonderful people at LP, and moments like these make me incredibly proud.
Heading back to the U.S. tomorrow. It was a good trip, and hopefully we continue to make a difference.
LP—Always punching above our weight. 💪
Onward! -JB
Signing the agreement with UkraineInvest to house their first US office in LP’s NYC office. This will make it much easier for American companies to connect and meet with the representatives of the Ukrainian government to explore potential business opportunities.
Oleksiy Sobolev, Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine. And a very good guy 👍
This is the painting we won at the auction here. Former Ambassador to the US. Painted by a Ukrainian soldier. Former Ambassador to the US, Oxana Markarova signed it. It will hang proudly in our Kyiv office.
These veterans performed several beautiful musical pieces for the US-Ukraine Business Council members.
Though (as always) a crazy busy schedule, I got to visit our Gdansk office and have a nice dinner with the team there. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip 😊
Gdansk.
This is where the beginning of the end of the old Soviet Union started with protests by the shipbuilders here led by Lech Walesa. At the start of the G7 session, Polish Prime Minister opened the conference with a video of that rebellion. And he made the very cogent point that “While the fight for our freedom and independence began right here in Gdansk, today it is the proud and heroic people of Ukraine who continue it”. True words!!!
Gdansk, Poland. Looks like a fairy tale city.
It’s always a real pleasure to be in Petro and Oxana’s company 🙂
Proudly sporting the LP colors in Poland 🙂