Leveraging Japan’s Disaster Experience for Ukraine’s Reconstruction

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine wages on. One company technologically capable of assisting Ukraine in the rebuilding of its infrastructure is Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., a comprehensive engineering consultancy firm from Japan. People from the firm spoke about its involvement in Ukraine and the country’s reconstruction.

The Bortnychi Sewage Treatment Plant (right), which Nippon Koei had been helping to modernize (the work has been suspended due to the conflict), and the signing of the contract with the private joint stock company Kyivvodokanal to renovate the facility (top). MIURA Yoshitomo, General Manager of the Ukraine Recovery Office and in charge of this project, is second from the right in the top photo. NIPPON KOEI CO., LTD.

The Bortnychi Sewage Treatment Plant (bottom), which Nippon Koei had been helping to modernize (the work has been suspended due to the conflict), and the signing of the contract with the private joint stock company Kyivvodokanal to renovate the facility (top). MIURA Yoshitomo, General Manager of the Ukraine Recovery Office and in charge of this project, is second from the right in the top photo. NIPPON KOEI CO., LTD.

 
　Ukraine is suffering badly as Russia persists with its aggression. Reaffirming Japan’s support for Ukraine, Prime Minister Kishida stated that Japan will help Ukraine rebuild through public-private partnership. By utilizing its expertise in earthquake reconstruction and its extensive industrial and technological base, Japan intends to assist with the clearing of land mines and the rebuilding of Ukraine’s infrastructure.
 
　One Japanese company with a long history of cooperating on engineering projects in the infrastructure field is the comprehensive engineering consultancy firm Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., which has expanded its business overseas to assist developing nations and war-torn countries. Through official development assistance (ODA) and private-sector projects, Nippon Koei has been involved in infrastructure development projects in 160 countries and regions.
 
　Even before Russia’s aggression against Ukraine began, Nippon Koei was working with the country on various aid projects, which included modernizing airports and building bridges. The most recent of those projects were the Bortnychi Sewage Treatment Plant modernization project in Kyiv and the Capacity Development for Municipal Waste Management project in the three cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro, both commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Though the sewage plant project had to be temporarily halted due to Russia’s aggression, the waste management project continued until the end of the last fiscal year with a new objective of disposing of the debris called “destruction waste” in Ukraine that has resulted from the conflict. The proficiency Nippon Koei gained from its experience in dealing with the recovery from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 can also be applied to the disposal of the large volume of waste resulting from Russia’s aggression. A series of online seminars was held in both 2022 and 2023 in collaboration with Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, local government agencies, and private organizations that have knowledge of Japan’s disaster waste management to share information with people in Ukraine on how to separate and recycle concrete, reinforcing bars, and other material from waste, as well as ways to make the process of waste treatment more efficient by estimating the amount of said waste.
 

 
　Since Russia began its aggression against Ukraine, Nippon Koei has participated in several reconstruction projects in the war-torn country under contract either with JICA or the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The company established its Ukraine Recovery Office in April this year and opened a new representative office in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, to be better placed to promote future projects and support ongoing projects.
 
　General Manager of the Ukraine Recovery Office MIURA Yoshitomo said, “The war and the aging of equipment have necessitated a review of Ukraine’s entire infrastructure. In creating a master plan for the country’s reconstruction, we have received many requests from local people wanting to benefit from Japan’s experience and knowledge. In addition, the number of engineers in Ukraine has declined as they have either been killed in the conflict or have fled the country. That is why we plan to help train new engineers.”General Manager of the Warsaw Office, NAKAMURA Masahiro, added, “We want to contribute to the country’s recovery and reconstruction by leveraging our strengths in a wide range of business fields and our far-reaching network.”
 
　But Nippon Koei’s goal is not just reconstruction of war zones. “We will continue to support Ukraine so that it can develop its legal system and strengthen its national resilience towards its goal of joining the EU,” declares Senior Specialist SOEDA Shungo, who oversees the waste management project. He goes on to say, “The people of Ukraine are truly kind and polite. Even in the early days of the aggression, they expressed their concern for the disasters Japan has suffered. I would love to collaborate with them to rebuild their country.”
 
　Going forward, Japan will work to further involve the private sector. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, HAYASHI Yoshimasa, said on June 21, 2023 at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, co-hosted by the governments of the United Kingdom and Ukraine, “Japan intends to make use of its experience and knowledge it has accumulated in the field of recovery and reconstruction, and to vigorously implement a uniquely Japanese form of reconstruction assistance in close contact with the Ukrainian people.”