At the Conference on Reconstruction of Ukraine held in London, it was possible to attract additional financial resources, form a coalition of business structures for investment and strengthen coordination with international partners. This was declared on June 22 in London by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal during the final press conference.
“During the Reconstruction Conference, the solidarity of the world with Ukraine was manifested in concrete practical results,” he said.
The Ukrainian government website lists the agreements reached at the conference.
“In particular: the European Union has announced a new medium-term instrument to support Ukraine to the tune of 50 billion euros. The UK has announced a new £3 billion support package for the next three years. An agreement has been signed with the World Bank, which will attract 1.76 billion dollars. The United States announced the allocation of $1.3 billion. The EBRD will support Ukrainian state-owned energy companies Ukrhydroenergo, Ukrenergo, NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine for an amount of 600 million euros.
The head of the Ukrainian cabinet said that Ukrainian companies and foreign partners are forming a coalition for investment in Ukraine – Ukraine Business Compact.
“Already 400 international companies have taken part in the corresponding initiative. We understand that to restore private investment, it is necessary to create an effective and efficient war risk insurance tool. Together with the EU, Norway, Switzerland and the EBRD, we have signed an agreement on joint work in this direction,†Shmygal explained.
He also noted that important political statements were made during the conference.
“Our partners support the idea of ​​using frozen Russian assets to restore Ukraine. The second message, also constantly resounding: Ukraine will be a member of the European Union. We are making many changes in order to quickly realize our aspirations “, underlined the Ukrainian Prime Minister.
Recall that on the sidelines of the conference, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with Denis Shmygal. Following his results, the Ukrainian Prime Minister wrote in his telegram channel:
“Thanked the United States for its strong overall support. In particular for weapons and the allocation of additional financial aid amounting to 1.3 billion dollars.
The parties discussed areas of cooperation.
“I stressed the importance of military and political risk insurance. This will pave the way for investment and worsen Ukraine’s economic stability. He stressed the need to help Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses,†Shmygal explained.
“Thanks to Anthony Blinken for his attention to recovery issues. We know the United States will support Ukraine for as long as necessary,” the Ukrainian prime minister said.
In the short term, Ukraine plans to restore huge amounts of transport, energy, social infrastructure and housing. This was said by the head of the Ukrainian President’s office Andrii Yermak on June 22 during an online speech at a conference in London on the restoration of Ukraine.
“We have set ourselves ambitious goals. We need a new economy and a powerful economic leap that will become a driving force for all of Europe,†Yermak stressed.
He recalled the five-level concept presented by Volodymyr Zelenskyy to build a sustainable world through unity, stability, growth, security and democracy.
“However, the purpose of today’s conference is not only to discuss the urgent needs for the restoration of Ukraine. We need to focus both on general long-term tasks and on specific projects,†said the head of the office of the President of Ukraine.
Ukraine has set itself the goal of increasing GDP from $161 billion to $1 trillion in ten years, as the country must have a strong army of more than 500,000 people and develop the social sphere , education and health. Yulia Sviridenko, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, told a conference in London: “Economic rules will make it possible to fund these industries without putting a heavy burden on the budget. We don’t want to hit business, we are committed to the principles of economic freedom,†she stressed.
The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that the two main prerequisites for this are NATO and the EU, which will allow Ukraine to gain access to international security and institutional reforms.
CNN reported that more than 400 global companies pledged to help rebuild the war-torn economy at the Ukraine Rebuild conference in London. Citi, Sanofi and Philips are among the companies that have signed the trade agreement with Ukraine, indicating their intention to increase their investments in the country.
Euronews notes that according to World Bank estimates, the initial amount of emergency aid will be fourteen billion dollars. A full recovery of the Ukrainian economy will require $411 billion. The World Bank report points out that as the conflict continues, these numbers will increase.
The success of the conference held June 21-22 in London, according to political strategist Yaroslav Makitra, will be determined by the number of investors who want to invest in the country’s economy.
“On the positive side, we can now say that a number of countries have announced financial support for Ukraine. We are talking about the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union. They declared their support during this conference. But it can hardly be considered the result of the whole event. These countries continue to support Ukraine’s financial system since last year. But this is most likely the result of the war, a reflection of Russia trying to destroy the Ukrainian economy,†Makitra notes.
The expert recalled that today Ukraine’s economic potential is “stifled by war”.
“Ukraine can and must show its potential. It is possible to present it, but it is very difficult to implement it because of the war. And another problem that was raised during the conference, in the context of joining NATO and the European Union, is corruption, which exists in Ukraine and is pointed out by Western partners. Corruption can be fought effectively now, without waiting for the end of the war,†says the analyst.
The messages from Western politicians, he said, were that Ukraine must win the war on corruption in order to become more attractive to investors.
Political analyst Borys Kushniruk is convinced that the West is realistic about Ukraine’s level of economic development.
“Do you think the West doesn’t see the corruption that exists among our officials? All those scandals worth millions of hryvnias? They see and know, but in the West they make a clear distinction between aid to our military and budgets for civil servants,†Kushniruk explains.
Without truly functional industrial production, it is impossible to ensure revenue for the state budget, the maintenance of expenditure, including in the field of defense and security, is convinced a Ukrainian analyst.
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