President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has called on representatives of the French business MEDEF International, who are on an official visit to the country, to participate in investment projects in Ukraine, the press service of the head of state reports.
In particular, the president drew the attention of investors to the implementation of the Big Construction national program. He called on French business to take part in the modernization of the road infrastructure of Ukraine within the framework of public-private partnership projects.
Among the large-scale investment projects, Zelensky also named railway communication, IT sphere, modernization and management of ports, airports, construction of metro and underground tunnels, etc. At the same time, the head of state emphasized the need to localize production in Ukraine.
Zelensky also proposed that Airbus, with which there is already a contract for the supply of helicopters, consider the possibility of participating in the implementation of a project to create a national Ukrainian air carrier and study the issue of attracting Ukraine to the production of the company’s products.
French businessmen confirmed their interest in cooperation in the mentioned areas.
“Today France is the sixth largest investment in Ukraine. Not a bad indicator, we can be glad. But we understand that it is better and much more can be done,” Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, the president of MEDEF association, said.
Reportedly, some of the Ukrainian-French investment projects are already underway.
“A contract has been signed with Alstom company for the supply of 120 locomotives for the Ukrainian railway with partial localization of production in Ukraine (in the amount of 35%),” the report says.
In total, Ukraine and France have recently concluded intergovernmental agreements for more than EUR 1.3 billion.
The delegation of MEDEF association, which arrived in Ukraine, includes representatives of 20 large French companies from many sectors.
France’s Alstom, the producer of rolling stock and infrastructure solutions, plans to open a representative office in Ukraine in several months, in particular, the office in Kyiv, Managing Director for Western and Central Asia at Alstom Bernard Peille told Interfax-Ukraine during the presentation of the first freight electric locomotive for Azerbaijan Railways in Astana (Kazakhstan). “We have found a person who would present the interests of Alstom in Ukraine and develop business for us. This person would be also responsible for opening of our office in Kyiv,” he said.
Peille also said that Alstom plans to open the office in Kyiv in coming months, adding that he cannot specify the date, as many things depend on administrative work in Ukraine, which the company does not know well.
Prima T8 AZ8A freight electric locomotive presented in Astana on Wednesday is made under a contract signed by the company and Azerbaijan Railways for supply of 50 locomotives, including Prima M4 AZ4A passenger locomotives.
