The war in Ukraine has overshadowed the first in-person gathering in the Swiss Alps in two years. Food shortages, climate change and migration risks have also been high on the agenda. 

Bloomberg panels on growth and trade featuring the International Monetary Fund’s Gita Gopinath, Siemens AG Chairman Jim HagemannSnabe and EU Trade Commissioner ValdisDombrovskis are among the highlights on Wednesday. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister, DmytroKuleba, said he saw no desire from NATO now to help secure safe passage of grains through the Black Sea, an effort seen as crucial to counter concerns about food shortages and rising prices.

“If NATO did not close the Ukrainian skies in the most tragic moments of the war, why should they dare to close the Ukrainian sea to allow the free passage of vessels with Ukrainian agricultural products,” he said. “I would wholeheartedly welcome the decision, but I just don’t see the stamina and the bravery to take all the risks associated with this operation.”

The interruption of the agricultural cycle of Ukraine risks a multi-year global food crisis, Kuleba told a breakfast organised by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, “but in the end, the problem is that you cannot trust Russia even if they sign papers guaranteeing safe passage.”

Inflationary pressures aren’t going to ease any time soon, Vestas Wind Systems A/S CEO, Henrik Andersen said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

“I don’t see it easing,” according to Andersen, who runs the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines. “We have to now get used to that, this could continue not only for quarters to come but also for years to come.”

Higher costs for materials and transport have erased profits for the wind-turbine industry just as it’s needed to ramp up to achieve global climate goals.

Mr Andersen said his company will return to making money once supply chain issues have been normalised.