The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to close 2022 with investments in Ukraine of over EUR 1.5 billion, Matteo Patrone, EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, said at the Ukrainian Investment Roadshow conference last week in London.
Next year the EBRD is going to do as much, if not more, depending on how the situation develops, he said.
Patrone said that the EBRD typically invests around EUR 10-11 billion a year in its countries of operations, so the amount allocated to Ukraine shows its role for the bank.
The Managing Director explained that the EBRD is able to provide such significant funds because it takes part of the risk on its balance sheet, while donors cover the rest.
Patrone said that while this year a significant portion of funding went to support liquidity, next year, according to his forecasts, the share of investment funding will increase – not only for recovery, but also for new projects.
He, in particular, recalled the allocated funds for the new direct investment fund Horizon Capital and announced the project of a Polish investor being considered by the bank, which is already present in Ukraine and who wants to invest another EUR 40 million in the country.
Speaking about work in the near future, Patrone called for more focus not on the 10-year outlook, but on what will happen in the next 12-18 months, how to win the war on the economic front during this period.
According to him, the second important point is the coordination of Ukraine’s international partners, building an effective and efficient coordination platform for channeling funds to support the country with the participation of Ukraine.
And the third question worth mentioning is that not to lose focus on the reform agenda, both in the short and medium term, he said. Therefore, reforms, in particular, reforms in corporate governance, the rule of law, which have been discussed for the past six to eight years and where Ukraine has made significant progress, should remain in the spotlight, the EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus said.
As reported, in 2021 the EBRD invested EUR 1 billion in Ukraine.
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