The international event Ukrainian Infrastructure Forum in London discussed the future post-war reconstruction of Ukraine – a monumental task that required unprecedented financing. Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksandr Gryban made a report on the mechanisms of attracting such funds at the forum.
In particular, he said that successful reconstruction was impossible without raising funds from international organizations, individual countries, international financial institutions and, of course, the private sector.
“After the victory of Ukraine, our country will become one of the best in the world in terms of opportunities for investors. Currently, we are doing everything possible to ensure that the process of investing in the reconstruction of Ukraine begins now, without waiting for the end of the war. In particular, we are working on practical instruments of political and military risk insurance, developing the structure of funds for attracting private investments. The fact that the global investment community is interested in projects in Ukraine is evidenced, in particular, by the recent signing of the Memorandum with the largest investment company on the planet BlackRock. We are confident that a massive inflow of foreign direct investment is inevitable. Moreover, we see great prospects in mobilizing resources of export credit agencies, including for guaranteeing credit risks in financing infrastructure projects”, said Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksandr Gryban.
The Deputy Minister of Economy dwelled on the presentation of the investment platform Advantage Ukraine, which had been launched in September with the support of the President of Ukraine. Currently, the platform has received more than 400 requests. In particular, more than a hundred inquiries have already been received from strategic and portfolio investors from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the Republic of Korea and others.
Investors are primarily interested in such sectors of the Ukrainian economy as innovation and technology, agriculture, mining, infrastructure, industrial production and logistics. Projects in the energy and defense sectors are also of special interest.
According to Oleksandr Gryban, given the scale of infrastructure destruction as a result of the war, restoration at public expense alone can take a long time. A much faster and more effective way is public-private partnership.
“We must act quickly – and in this case the experience and expertise of the private sector in project management should come to the rescue,” added Oleksandr Gryban.
It should be noted that Ukraine’s investment opportunities and their impact on the reconstruction were also presented as part of the Ukrainian Roadshow at the leading international conference and exhibition of corporate technologies TechEx Global in London. (Government portal/Business World Magazine)