The 9th Annual Research Conference (ARC 2025) titled Economic and Financial Integration in a Stormy and Fragmenting World was held on 19–20 June 2025 in Kyiv. The event convened more than 530 leading researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from 34 countries around the globe, including representatives of central banks, international organizations, government agencies, academic institutions, and research centers. This high-level conference became a powerful intellectual platform for in-depth analyses of the new reality in which central banks operate amid geopolitical turbulence, increasing global fragmentation, evolving supply chains, and new challenges for central-bank policy.
The event focused on rethinking the role of central banks in the new global coordinate system where their institutional credibility, analytical capacity, and independence in implementing regulatory policies are drawing increasingly more attention.
Ukraine’s unique experience having a functional central bank in extreme conditions was an important part of the discussions, as was Ukraine’s potential role in the transformation of the entire European Union to strengthen its resilience against new global challenges.
Opening the conference, NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy said, “Nowhere is the transformative power of integration more evident than in Ukraine. We are not just changing while reshaping each structural element of our system and integrating within Europe’s new architecture. We are pushing Europe forward. Ukraine is not just an object of integration. Ukraine is a source of renewal for the European Union. I firmly believe that we do not create strategic challenges for Europe. On the contrary, we help reduce those challenges. We are an answer, not a question.”
The conference’s program covered in-depth academic research and panel discussions on strategies that deepen integration processes to counter the effects of fragmentation. Special emphasis was placed on the following topics:
- challenges and transformations shaping the role of leading currencies in the global economy
- geopolitical shocks and fragmentation
- sanctions policy
- evolution of monetary regimes
- new approaches to institutional interaction.
Keynote speeches were delivered by:
- Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, who talked about key lessons offered by Europe’s long history of strengthening and integrating economies. She emphasized that closer ties with the European neighborhood can provide a strong foundation for Ukraine to rebuild and emerge stronger. Ms Lagarde acknowledged that the NBU’s reforms in the banking sector, risk-based supervisory model, closer alignment with EU standards, as well as the financial system’s resilience despite the ongoing full-scale war, are exceptional achievements that demonstrate institutional maturity in the face of an existential shock.
“If Ukraine stays the course on institutional reform and continues to adapt its economy to new opportunities, despite the stormy environment, it can emerge as a vital engine of growth and a key contributor to the region’s future,” said Christine Lagarde.
- Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, who in his speech Central Banking in Extreme Adversity said that to successfully withstand shocks, central banks must have robust independence and pursue flexible monetary policy. After all, the result of policy actions and the quality of how they are communicated will shape monetary and financial stability.
“Unless we pursue and achieve both our monetary and financial stability objectives, we are not fulfilling our role of ensuring the stability of the money system. There is not a hierarchy of our two objectives. Rather, neither can be achieved satisfactorily without the other also being achieved,” said Andrew Bailey.
- Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics and Maurits C. Boas Chair of International Economics at Harvard University, who in his speech Will the Dollar’s Loss be the Euro’s Gain? said that the weakening of the dollar’s dominance creates opportunities for other currencies, primarily the euro, to strengthen their international positions. However, this window of opportunity requires decisive efforts: the development of the EU’s internal financial market, institutional depth, stability of the rules of the game, and growth in geopolitical agency. Competition among currencies in a multipolar world requires not only economic weight, but also political cohesion and strategic vision, Kenneth Rogoff emphasized.
The high level of presented papers and expert discussions once again demonstrated the important role of economic research in enhancing the institutional capacity of central banks and strengthening their resilience and ability to respond in a timely and effective manner to the unprecedented challenges of the global environment.
“Over the course of two intensive days, Kyiv has become a hub for profound discussions and fresh ideas. The conference has served as a space for conversations not only about the turbulence of the global order but also about the pathways to a new equilibrium. These were substantive, thoughtful, and practical discussions. And most important – we were once again reminded: in times of fragmentation and geopolitical instability, integration is not only desirable but essential. Integration of perspectives, experience, academic approaches, and – undoubtedly – regional integration as a development strategy for Europe,” said NBU Deputy Governor Sergiy Nikolaychuk as he summarized the conference in his closing remarks.
The 9th Annual Research Conference of the National Bank of Ukraine was held jointly with Narodowy Bank Polski and supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the International Monetary Fund. The NBU is grateful to all of its colleagues for their support in making this important research event possible.
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