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IT sector. In 2024, Ukraine needs $15.3B for rapid recovery, with $5.5B already having been financed through the state budget and donor support. Deputy Minister of Finance Olha Zykova noted: "Creating a favorable environment for investment involves improving access to financing investment projects, providing insurance against military and political risks, and introducing state support mechanisms. The Government of Ukraine actively cooperates with several partners and is committed to implementing steps to improve this process," Within the investment component of the EU Ukraine Facility instrument, the Ukraine Investment Framework is implemented, which aims to mobilize investment to support the Ukrainian private sector.
G7 agrees on transfer of $50 billion in profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. "We have an agreement," a French presidency official said, ahead of a summit in Italy, which starts on June 13.
$50bn loan: As leaders of the group of seven advanced economies gather in Italy from June 13, American hopes that the meeting would act as a showcase for Western support to Ukraine as its war with Russia stretches into a third year look like being dashed amid increasing European irritation. “What Washington is proposing is, 'We [the US] take a loan, Europe takes all the risk, you [Europe] pay the interest, and we [the US] use the money for a US-Ukraine fund,'” said one senior European diplomat. “We might be stupid but we’re not that stupid,” Politico reported.
Europe and America are also fighting about control over the loan and influencing how the money is spent, senior European officials said. If Washington — or institutions with major US stakes such as the World Bank — dole out the money, American companies are in pole position to profit, they said. “The EU can be naïve, but this goes too far,” said an EU diplomat. “This would benefit mostly American companies, so we have to discuss the conditions more in detail.”
Officials are now discussing whether to issue the loan through the World Bank or an ad hoc instrument, with the officials saying the EU wanted to negotiate the exact conditions to avoid their companies being left out of profitable Ukrainian contracts.
Under the alternative plan, the EU would take a €50bn loan for Ukraine which it would pay back with proceeds from the around €200bn Russian assets frozen within the EU. As collateral for the loan, the EU would use its €1.2 trillion seven-year budget. A senior EU diplomat suggested that this option is gaining traction as it does not require unanimity among EU states. But in a meeting of finance ministers last week, several capitals warned that this might undermine Western unity, with each G7 country handing its own bilateral loan to Ukraine.
In Berlin, Ukraine presented a $27B investment guide, and the EU launched the Ukraine Investment Framework. The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine presented its Investment Guide at the URC2024 in Berlin. The guide contains a detailed overview of key sectors - energy, transport and logistics, the agro-industrial complex, green metallurgy, pharmaceutical industry and medicine, critical materials, IT, and examples of investment projects in these sectors. It also describes Ukraine’s investment landscape in detail. The document contains 95 investment projects requiring about $27B in financing. Ukraine's Economy Minister Yuliya Svyridenko noted at the conference that
75 UKRAINE Country Report July 2024 www.intellinews.com