FIEC / EIC / CICA Joint Statement on Ukraine

FIEC/EIC/CICA strongly condemn the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia and ask all the construction companies, members of our affiliates, to act according to the sanctions that have been and will be decided at EU and at the international level. This war of aggression is in stark contrast to everything our federations believe in.

OUR REQUESTS AND COMMITTMENT

Considering the challenges in managing the impacts of such a difficult situation in many ways,
FIEC-EIC-CICA:

• encourage national and multilateral authorities to take action to address the root causes of the problem in the energy markets and ensure security of supply at reasonable prices to avoid supply chain disruptions
• ask the European Commission for an immediate suspension of Safeguard quotas for reinforcing steel
• underline the need for a fair allocation of the unusual risks to the parties for the good implementation of the projects and call upon employers/clients to recognise that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can have repercussions on estimated project budgets and on time for delivery caused by actions of war, countermeasures adopted by the Russian government and/or disruptions in the global construction supply chain. We call upon employers/clients to engage constructively on each individual contract by showing flexibility beyond the pure letter of the contractual relationship
•  encourage employers/clients to introduce specific mechanisms to capture and absorb related additional costs of contractors, e.g. by agreeing on appropriate price escalation mechanisms and Force Majeure events, and to grant them an extension of contractual deadlines related to the performance of the contract and their contractual obligations. Such approach will avoid an enormous administration, bureaucracy, disputes, and court procedures between the parties (including the supply/subcontractor chain) related to construction projects. Public administrations should provide price escalation mechanisms in their tender documents for upcoming construction projects so that tenderers are provided with a reliable basis for their tender preparation and calculation.
• will facilitate and foster the integration of Ukrainian refugees in the construction industry.

CICA, FIEC and EIC and all its members join the United Nations and the European Union in their urgent calls on the Russian government to immediately stop the aggression, withdraw its troops, and cooperate to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. We express our solidarity with the utterly brave people of Ukraine and we hope that dialogue and diplomacy will now replace military action in order to prevent further bloodshed and destruction.

Please download the entire Joint Statement below: