On 15 June 2026, the 40th session of the Program and Budget Committee (PBC) of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) began in Geneva, the Swiss Confederation, and is scheduled to run until 19 June.
The Committee is one of WIPO`s key bodies responsible for program activities, financial reporting, oversight, audit, human resources management, the evaluation of external offices and the implementation of WIPO Assemblies` decisions. It is significant that Ukraine is participating in this session as a member of the WIPO Program and Budget Committee: in July 2025, during the 66th series of meetings of the Assemblies of the WIPO Member States, Ukraine was elected for the first time to the PBC for a two-year term spanning from July 2025 to July 2027.
During the opening of the session, Bogdan Paduchak, First Deputy Director of UANIPIO, delivered a statement on behalf of the Delegation of Ukraine.
Bogdan Paduchak
The Ukrainian side emphasised that discussions on the institutional effectiveness, transparency and accountability of WIPO cannot be separated from the broader international context, namely the ongoing war of aggression waged by the russian federation against Ukraine, the full-scale phase of which has already lasted longer than the First World War.
The statement placed particular emphasis on the recent massive combined attack by the russian federation on the night of 15 June – the opening day of the Committee. The russian federation deployed 70 missiles of various types and 611 unmanned aerial vehicles.
«On the night of 15 June, just as this Committee was about to convene, the russian federation launched another massive combined attack against Ukraine, using 681 aerial attack assets. The main target of the attack was Kyiv; Dnipro and Kharkiv were also struck by missiles. Among the sites hit was the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra – a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most important Christian shrines. The attack caused a fire at the Dormition Cathedral and damaged at least five monuments of national significance. In Kharkiv, a repeated russian strike hit emergency responders while they were extinguishing a fire, killing and injuring rescuers», – noted Bogdan Paduchak.
According to the Kyiv City State Administration and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the attack caused damage and fires across nearly all districts of Kyiv. In the Pecherskiy district, the roof of the Assumption Cathedral at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra caught fire.
Other iconic cultural sites were also damaged: “Mystetskyi Arsenal” National Cultural and Art and Museum Complex, the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio, the State Enterprise “Ukrainian Studio of Chronicle and Documentary Films”, the “Ukraina” National Palace of Arts and the Kyiv National Ivan Karpovych Karpenko-Karyi Theatre, Cinema and Television University. On the grounds of the Dovzhenko Film Studio, the wardrobe department housing Ukraine’s largest and oldest costume collection was completely destroyed.
In Dnipro, the House of Organ and Chamber Music was damaged: windows and doors were smashed and the organ, historic stained-glass windows and dome were damaged. In Kharkiv, the Kharkiv Art Museum was damaged the day before, with a major fire engulfing the building’s roof.
The Ukrainian National Commission for UNESCO has already drawn the attention of the international community to these damages and expects the urgent deployment of UNESCO experts to document the destruction and assess the consequences of the shelling.
As of the morning of 15 June 2026, russia’s overnight attack on the capital resulted in 5 fatalities and 34 injuries, including two children.
The Ukrainian delegation also highlighted the scale of the socio-economic losses Ukraine has suffered as a result of russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. According to the Fifth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment for Ukraine – RDNA5, prepared by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank Group, the European Commission and the United Nations, Ukraine’s total socio-economic losses as of the end of 2025 were estimated to be $666.7 billion.
Within this exact context Ukraine has once again emphasized that the further operation of the WIPO External Office in moscow is unacceptable.
“The continued presence of a WIPO External Office in the capital of a state that is conducting a war of aggression, violating the UN Charter, attempting to illegally annex parts of the territory of another WIPO Member State, and destroying that Member State’s innovation and creativity ecosystem, remains deeply incompatible with the institutional integrity of this Organization” Bogdan Paduchak emphasized.
Additionally, the Ukrainian side emphasized that all WIPO activities, platforms and projects must fully respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders – in accordance with the decisions of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO and the UN General Assembly Resolutions.
The statement by the Ukrainian delegation was supported by the Albanian delegation on behalf of the countries of the Central European and Baltic States Group (CEBS), as well as by the United Kingdom delegation on behalf of like-minded countries: Australia, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Republic of Moldova, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
CEBS Members condemned russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and emphasized that the Committee cannot ignore the devastating impact of the war on Ukraine’s innovation landscape, research institutions and intellectual property infrastructure. In their turn, like-minded countries reaffirmed their full solidarity with Ukraine, urged russia to immediately cease its aggression and emphasized the importance of fully implementing the decision of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO regarding assistance and support for Ukraine’s innovation and creative sectors, as well as its intellectual property system.
Ukraine expressed its gratitude to WIPO Director General Daren Tang, the WIPO Secretariat and the Member States, which continue to demonstrate solidarity with the Ukrainian people and support for Ukrainian innovators, creators and the entire IP community.
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