The Ukrainian government delegation to Saudi Arabia is preparing for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the country, particularly in the economic sphere, with large-scale public-private partnership projects and “attractive privatization opportunities worth half a billion dollars” already presented, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said.
“We started the working visit of the Ukrainian government delegation to Saudi Arabia with a meeting with almost a hundred local entrepreneurs (…) We presented projects in energy, agriculture, and infrastructure. As well as large-scale public-private partnership projects and attractive privatization opportunities totaling half a billion dollars in investment,” she wrote on her Facebook page on Sunday.
According to her, “dozens of meetings will be held in the coming days to prepare President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Saudi Arabia.” In particular, important economic agreements with the countries of the region are being prepared for signing.
According to her, “dozens of meetings will be held in the coming days to prepare President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Saudi Arabia.” In particular, important economic agreements with the countries of the region are being prepared for signing.
Svyrydenko noted that Saudi Arabia is now actively supporting Ukraine. They have allocated $500 million to support Ukraine’s recovery. “Now we can illustrate the call to invest in Ukraine without waiting for the end of the war with very specific businesses from Saudi Arabia. For example, FAS Energy, which invested in renewable energy in Ukraine. Or SALIC, which last year in September became a co-owner of one of the largest Ukrainian agricultural holdings, MHP, acquiring a 12.6% stake in the company. I am immensely grateful to all those companies that show leadership and that it is possible and necessary to invest in Ukraine now,” Svyrydenko said.
“I am convinced that we have prospects for even more active attraction of investments from the Middle East. Today, we have seen significant interest primarily in infrastructure projects, energy projects, proposals in the field of innovation, agribusiness, especially fertilizer production, where Saudi Arabia has expertise,” the Deputy Prime Minister added.
According to her, exports to Saudi Arabia increased from $291 million in 2023 to $368 million in 2024. “And we expect growth this year as well. We have not yet reached pre-war levels, but I hope we can achieve this, and such business forums will be worth it,” she emphasized.
