Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that during his recent trip to the US, he met with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and other US business and finance leaders to discuss investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction.
“The American entrepreneurs and financiers confirmed their readiness to make large-scale investments in our country immediately after the end of the war and the receipt of security guarantees,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “We are working for the victory and reconstruction of Ukraine.”
CNN reported that while Zelensky was in New York for the UN General Assembly, he attended a meeting convened by JPMorgan Chase to discuss Ukraine’s reconstruction. A source told CNN the meeting was attended by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Michael Bloomberg, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and billionaire Barry Sternlicht.
The destruction of Ukraine provides a huge investment opportunity for American corporations, as the World Bank has estimated reconstruction could cost over $500 billion. Ukrainian officials have put the price tag for their “recovery plan” at $750 billion.
Earlier this year, bankers from JPMorgan traveled to Kyiv and signed a memorandum of understanding with Zelensky related to Ukraine’s reconstruction. Zelensky and the bankers discussed the idea of establishing a fund with tens of billions of dollars in private capital to go towards investment in Ukraine.
In January 2022, Zelensky virtually addressed a group of American companies and touted the “big business” opportunities his country offered, citing US military support as an example. “And everyone can become a big business by working with Ukraine. In all sectors — from weapons and defense to construction, from communications to agriculture, from transport to IT, from banks to medicine,” he said.
Source: AntiWar.
