Howard G Buffett Foundation To Support Ukraine

Howard, you and I were just talking about how you were actually in Ukraine just days ago. Tell us what you saw. Well, the situation is very difficult in Ukraine right now, both in terms of the civilian infrastructure that continues to get hit by Russia. They’re purposely targeting both the railroad and energy infrastructure as well as civilian targets like schools and churches and hospitals. So that is an ongoing problem for Ukraine because they don’t. And they have not had enough weapons to protect themselves against that, not with the air defense systems. And then on the frontline. It’s really tough. You know, every single day Ukraine is losing a bit of ground, Not very much, but it’s been consistent. And there’s a simple reason for that, because they have run very low on ammunition because Europe didn’t supply everything. They promised the supply towards the end of the year or the beginning of this year. And of course, the United States spent five or six months arguing over whether to provide additional assistance to that note too. If you had the conversation with the president or Congress at this point, what would that conversation look like? And how receptive has Congress been to having a conversation with you and the foundation? Well, I talked to a few people when they contact us, I we try to stay out of the politics of it. But you know, the the first part of it is that we’re in this war whether we want to be in it or not. And that is not about sending a package every five months or six months. It’s about the fact that Putin has said that the war in Ukraine is a proxy war against the West, against the United States and against NATO. So he is threatened that he’s going to proceed on past Ukraine when he defeats, if he defeats. But he thinks he will defeat Ukraine. So we can’t let Ukraine be defeated. We we we have to help them win this war against Russia. And Russia has engaged all the enemies that we have in the world. I mean they they are actively involved with Iran and North Korea. They’re both providing missiles, drones, ammunition to Russia to fight Ukraine. So I mean this this is essentially a World War that hasn’t been defined as a World War because you have about 50 countries engaged in it. And so if we don’t, if we don’t fight it on the terms that are in front of us today, we’ll be fighting it on different terms in terms of in regard to when Russia is on the borders of whether it’s Finland or Romania or Poland and they decide to invade a NATO country. I mean, we there, we don’t have an option except to honor our agreement in NATO. You kind of alluded here to the muscling in Congress that is going on, particularly when it comes to Ukraine aid. How much is the US government and specific lawmakers stepping up to ask wealthy individuals and foundations to really step up to provide private money to the war in Ukraine? Well, there’s really kind of three buckets. One is obviously the the US government and other Western allies that can provide military aid. And then there’s the philanthropies such as ourselves that can provide humanitarian support, whether it’s providing meals, de mining, agricultural areas, investigating war crimes, crimes against humanity. And then the other bucket is investment. It’s a tough sell when a country’s at war for investments. But there, you know, you just saw an announcement the other day of the largest telecommunication investment in Ukraine, which is happening right now. And you have other areas like logistics and and food services there. There’s other areas where companies can invest. And you know, there’s still a large amount of Ukrainians that are buying things and and using services and there’s a lot of Ukrainians that are very willing to work. So, you know, it’s it’s a balancing act. Not every industry or company is going to invest in Ukraine when they’re at war, but there are still many opportunities. Well, let’s talk more about that. How many people are already thinking about the reconstruction, the opportunity here to invest in Ukraine as it heals? Where are the industries that are showing the most promise and how are companies looking to be a part of it? Well, there’s some obvious industries that will be part of the reconstruction. But when people start talking about reconstruction, I always remind them Ukraine has to win the war first. But in reconstruction, you’re going to see health services. You’re going to see a huge area for investment in the energy sector. You’re going to see obviously some investment in the defense sector. And then again, you know, the services industry will come back very much. I mean, you have different U.S. companies operating in some places in Ukraine and you have where they’re not operating in others, you know, based on the threat level or the risk level. And that’s obvious. I mean, look it, it’s not easy to talk investment during a war. And so I I think the point is to look for those industries or companies that can take advantage of the situation and invest or at least continue to operate. That’s what Ukraine needs. I mean, this country, it’s not just fighting a war, they’re trying to survive in terms of economically and that’s one of the big challenges obviously, you know, as as they’re attacked by Russia every single day. So they need the continued support of businesses that are operating there or they can operate there. Howard, before I let you go, I also want to ask you, because we are days away from the annual meeting in Omaha, a lot of investors thinking about Berkshire Hathaway, its portfolio and its future. And of course, you sit on the board of Berkshire Hathaway. Curious to get your thoughts here about the future of Berkshire, the, the entity that really built your family’s wealth and the direction that Greg Abel might take it to in the future. Well, I’m always very careful about commenting on Berkshire as a director because I think that that’s management’s responsibility. But you know, Berkshire has a long track record of success. There’s no reason to think that it won’t continue with success and Greg is going to be a great CEO. But you know, beyond that I I find it better to talk to the management about what they think.