On April 17, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted the U.S.-Ukraine Partnership Forum. The event was attended by representatives of the governments, businesses from both countries and leading financial experts.
Ukraine was represented by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Finance Sergii Marchenko and Deputy Minister of Finance for European Integration Yuriy Draganchuk.
The Forum aimed at discussing mechanisms to create a favourable business environment and attract private sector and foreign investment to Ukraine.
Sergii Marchenko and Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission, co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine, Gert Jan Koopman, took part in a panel discussion on the coordination of donor assistance.
Sergii Marchenko emphasised the importance of stimulating investment and developing market potential in Ukraine to build a sustainable future.
“Macroeconomic and financial stability is the foundation for attracting and stimulating investment. The Government, in cooperation with its partners, is working to maintain this stability and ensure predictability, including for potential investors. Another priority is to ensure safety through timely financing of priority expenditures, such as the defence industry and the needs of the Armed Forces. In cooperation with IFIs, we are creating instruments to provide war risk insurance,” the Minister of Finance said.
In particular, the Government, together with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group, is working on mechanisms for war risk insurance and investment guarantees. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, MIGA has provided Ukraine with guarantees totalling $196 million. To address the lack of resources for war-related risk insurance, the SURE Trust Fund was established. The donors are Japan, the United Kingdom and Norway.
The Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine spoke about the measures taken by the Government of Ukraine to create a favourable business environment. First of all, it is the harmonisation of the current legislation of Ukraine with the EU norms – improvement of the customs and tax systems.
To improve the Government’s cooperation with the private sector, Ukraine is also working on prioritising projects. It is important to clearly define the priority needs to attract business to the areas that are most critical to the country’s recovery.
One of the measures taken is the approval by the Government of Ukraine of the Roadmap for Reforming the Public Finance Management System. The goal is to build effective management of investment projects based on strategic priorities and select them in accordance with transparent procedures and well-defined criteria. (Government portal)
