After the war, Ukraine is to be rebuilt mainly at the expense of private capital. And the development of the Ukrainian economy will be driven by stimulating small and medium-sized businesses. This was stated by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, during a meeting with the Latvian delegation headed by Ilze Indriksone, Minister for Economics of the Republic of Latvia.
“We already understand the economic model that will be used to rebuild Ukraine. It was during the war that we realised what our main advantages over other countries were. That is why we will rely on them in our reconstruction – digital technologies, green energy, agriculture and the defence industry. This is the basis and a great prospect for Ukraine’s development,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
At the same time, access to finance is an extremely important and urgent problem for business today.
“We have state financial assistance, but it is clear that the largest-scale reconstruction in Europe since the Second World War will be carried out mainly by private capital. That is why we invite Latvian business to Ukraine and suggest that the national export credit agency should consider the possibility of financing not only trade contracts, but also investment contracts,” Yuliia Svyrydenko suggested.
On behalf of the Government, she also invited Latvian business to take part in an international conference on Ukraine’s recovery to be held in London at the end of June.
Another area of cooperation between Ukraine and Latvia could be the exchange of experience in supporting small and medium-sized businesses. Indeed, it was this business that showed the greatest adaptability during the war.
According to Ilze Indriksone, Latvia has an Investment and Development Agency that supports small businesses and temporarily displaced persons from Ukraine. Practice shows that Ukrainians are quite successful in developing small businesses in Latvia. There is a good example and experience in this regard that Latvia is willing to share.
Yuliia Svyrydenko said that Ukraine would be interested in Latvia’s experience in supporting small and medium-sized businesses.
According to Ilze Indriksone, Latvian business is interested in new areas of cooperation in the field of information technology and innovation. For this purpose, representatives of the two largest business organisations in Latvia – the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia – arrived in Ukraine. They have already demonstrated their readiness to cooperate with Ukrainian entrepreneurs.
Ilze Indriksone also praised the reform plan that Ukraine had to implement in order to join the European Union. She pledged that the Republic of Latvia would support Ukraine in every possible way to fulfill the EU’s conditions for becoming a full member as soon as possible. (Government portal/Business World Magazine)
