By KYIV. Dec 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The French export credit agency Bpifrance will work out the possibility of insuring war risks, this was discussed during a meeting between First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko and Deputy Director General of the State Treasury of France Muriel Lacoue-Labarthe in Paris on Tuesday.
"Ukraine is interested in cooperation with Bpifrance and the French State Treasury. This will be mutually beneficial cooperation: Ukraine will receive targeted long-term and cheap funds that will be used for restoration, and French businesses will have the opportunity to take part in projects to restore Ukraine," Yulia Svyrydenko said.
In turn, Lacoue-Labarthe recalled that the French government had already allocated EUR 1.2 billion of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, of which EUR 1 billion can be used to guarantee credit risks, and EUR 200 million to attract Ukraine’s direct lending from the French Treasury.
At the same time, a condition for lending in the amount of EUR 200 million is the involvement of French manufacturers and contractors in the implementation of relevant projects at a level of at least 50%.
At the same time, as noted by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, guaranteeing credit risks requires the involvement of French businesses in projects at the level of only 20%. Under such conditions, Ukraine will receive extremely favorable concessional financing, and all risks are covered by Bpifrance.
"It will be long-term and cheap lending. And what is important for us, in this case, there is the possibility of a high level of localization," Svyrydenko said.
According to her, the introduction of effective mechanisms for insuring military risks would significantly speed up the process of attracting investments. At the same time, Ukraine is very interested that the insurance mechanisms that Western institutions will offer are also applied to Ukrainian business.
As it was noted during the meeting, today Bpifrance does not have the appropriate instruments for insuring military risks, however, the French government will listen to the proposals of Ukraine and is ready to consider and implement such instruments in the near future.
