NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Washington, DC, August 16, 2024: Deputy Secretary of State for Management & Resources Richard Verma will be helming the United States’ efforts to support Ukraine’s economic recovery, following the departure of Special Representative Penny Pritzker. Verma is an experienced diplomat and former U.S. Ambassador to India.
Over the past year, Penny Pritzker has been instrumental in advancing Ukraine’s economic recovery, said a press release issued by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Her work has involved six trips to Ukraine, where she led multiple CEO delegations to Kyiv and visited various European countries to gather support for Ukraine’s economic future. Pritzker’s efforts have been focused on laying the groundwork for Ukraine’s full-scale economic recovery and eventual accession to the European Union.
Among Pritzker’s significant accomplishments were securing approximately $9 billion in economic assistance for Ukraine, launching the G7+ Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform Business Advisory Council to provide crucial private sector insights, and supporting Ukraine’s drive to pass key economic reforms to attract private sector investment. She also initiated a Defense Industrial Base “Deal Team” to accelerate collaborations between U.S. and Ukrainian defense companies and worked with private sector entities to bring essential war-risk insurance to market.
With Pritzker’s position being limited to one year by statute, the task now falls to Richard Verma to continue and expand upon these initiatives.
