California, Washington to lead November trade mission to Lviv, pitch reconstruction, energy, IT and MilTech opportunities

California and Washington state officials announced a joint trade mission in November to Poland and Lviv designed to connect U.S. companies with business and reconstruction opportunities in western Ukraine, officials said during a public webinar.

Tricia Utterback, Trade and Investment Representative at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development in California, said the delegation will offer site visits, B2B meetings and introductions to regional officials and private-sector partners in Lviv, with registration details to be shared after the webinar.

The two-state delegation will be supported by the U.S. Commercial Service and local partners in Lviv. Leon Skarshenski, trade counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, said panelists identified priority sectors for U.S. exporters and investors: energy and renewables, construction and reconstruction, agribusiness, information technology and MilTech (defense-related technologies).

“Ukraine is a country at war. That said, life goes on as normal pretty much everywhere to the west of the front lines,” Skarshenski said, adding that “there’s a $500,000,000,000 price tag they’re putting on rebuilding the country” once a peace agreement allows large-scale reconstruction.

Energy and reconstruction needs were described as immediate procurement opportunities. A presenter identified in the webinar as Marislava summarized Ministry of Energy figures and sector needs, saying that missile strikes and other attacks have damaged generation and distribution assets, that Ukraine lost roughly 10 gigawatts (about 42%) of generation capacity, and that direct losses to the energy sector amounted to about $16,000,000,000 as of January 2025. She and other panelists highlighted demand for decentralized generation, grid modernization, battery storage, and utility-scale renewable projects and pointed attendees to financing sources such as the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and EU solidarity funds.

Speakers outlined the scale of broader damage and procurement needs for infrastructure. The infrastructure presenter noted estimated 2025 damages near $170,000,000,000 overall, with tens of billions identified for resilient buildings, transport and road repair. Presenters urged solutions that speed reconstruction—prefabricated systems, energy-efficient materials, and industrialized production—and said Ukraine will prioritize projects that can be executed quickly and at competitive cost.

Panelists described a strong Ukrainian IT and tech sector that has continued to operate through the war. Yulia, the webinar’s IT sector speaker, said about 2,000 IT companies and nearly 350,000 specialists remain active and that the sector generated roughly $6–6.4 billion in export revenue in 2023. She also cautioned attendees about increasing cyberattacks and promoted collaboration on cybersecurity and defense-technology projects, including battlefield testing programs for applicable products.

Representatives from Lviv’s regional administration and the Lviv California Chamber of Commerce told attendees that the region has become a logistics and production hub for many relocated Ukrainian firms, citing hundreds of relocated enterprises and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people who augment the local workforce. They flagged housing and warehouse scarcity and high demand for construction materials as immediate market signals for suppliers.

HEP International and AHP International, contracted partners for the trade mission, gave a practical overview of the trip: a Poland module with exhibiting and media exposure, followed by a tailored 2.5-day Lviv program with pre-arranged B2B meetings, site visits and local logistics including hotels with shelters and on-the-ground support.

Speakers emphasized practical cautions for U.S. companies: the need for local distribution or representative partners, careful due diligence, and a competitive value proposition versus cheaper imports (notably Chinese suppliers) on cost-sensitive items such as solar batteries. Multiple presenters advised that U.S. firms will be more successful with a durable local presence or a close partner in Ukraine.

The webinar concluded with organizers saying they will share slides and contact information and that staff will follow up on unanswered questions via chat or email. Tricia Utterback encouraged attendees to register for the mission and noted California and Washington will help match participating companies to local partners and procurement opportunities.

The presentations and figures cited above reflect statements made by webinar speakers and referenced Ukrainian government or international funding sources during the event; the numbers were not independently verified in the webinar.