Finance Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko and Minister of Economy and Finance of France Bruno Le Maire have discussed bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
“Recently, we have worked hard to implement joint Ukrainian-French projects and localize French production in Ukraine. The signing of four intergovernmental agreements worth more than EUR 1.3 billion is an important step towards the development of strategic relations between our countries,” Marchenko said.
The French minister shared ideas and plans for future projects, including agriculture, financial technology, biotechnology and lithium mining.
The ministers also discussed the economic forecasts of both countries. Marchenko noted that despite the pandemic, Ukraine had an optimistic forecast for real GDP growth at the level of 4.6% in 2021. In addition, Ukraine has managed to maintain macro-financial stability during the pandemic.
The parties shared their experience in fighting against COVID-19 spread. The Ukrainian minister informed representatives of the French delegation that the country is actively working to accelerate the vaccination of the population. Apart from several major already concluded agreements on vaccine purchases, there are plans to further increase supplies of vaccines to Ukraine.
Le Maire assured of support for Ukraine in carrying out important reforms, and stressed the need for implementing justice reform, which was also an important condition for Ukraine to receive the next tranche from the IMF. (Ukrinform/Business World Magazine)
