Yalta European Strategy (YES) is the largest social institution of public diplomacy in Eastern Europe, providing an open and equal dialogue on global issues affecting the European Union, Ukraine, Russia and other countries. This non-partisan organisation was established in 2004 by the Ukrainian businessman and public figure Victor Pinchuk.
YES addresses Ukraine’s development in the context of today’s challenges and opportunities offered by the dynamics of a modern world. For YES, the primary objective is to help Ukraine develop into a modern, democratic and economically powerful country. Through public dialogue and personal networking with decision makers, top experts, business leaders and journalists YES strives to contribute to the effective integration of Ukraine into key international systems.
The YES Annual Meetings held in Yalta’s Livadia Palace have become an open platform to discuss and look for new ideas and views on paths to European, Ukrainian and global development. These meetings bring together over 200 politicians, diplomats, statesmen, journalists, analysts and business leaders from more than 20 countries. The dialogue on global challenges broadens the vision on the situation inside Ukraine and the prospects for the country’s development in the modern world. It is also an incentive to find common ground between countries, common interests and values.
At the YES Annual Meetings the world's top opinion leaders present their visions of current and future trends which impact all spheres of life of society. In 2010 and 2011, the events were opened by Presidents Viktor Yanukovych, Bronislaw Komorowski and Shimon Peres. YES Annual Meetings key speakers have included Kofi Annan, Egemen Bagis, Carl Bildt, Tony Blair, Victor Vekselberg, James Wolfensohn, Sergei Glazyev, Bill Clinton, Andrei Kostin, Paul Krugman, Alexei Kudrin, Leonid Kuchma, Yuri Milner, Lawrence Summers, Radoslaw Sikorski, Javier Solana, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Strobe Talbott, Niall Ferguson, Vladimir Filat, Joschka Fischer, Stefan Fule, Viktor Chernomyrdin, Gerhard Schroeder and many others.