By PARIS. Dec 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – France is providing EUR 100 million to rebuild Ukrainian infrastructure – bridges and rails, French President Emmanuel Macron said at the bilateral business conference on the sustainability and reconstruction of Ukraine in Paris.
"We don’t have to wait for the end of the war: as soon as the territory is de-occupied, we need to think about how to breathe life and economy into it," Macron said.
He also announced the signing of a number of business agreements on Tuesday, in particular, the supply of seeds and the signing of a technological and digital roadmap, which will include the creation of a French-Ukrainian startup fund and an agreement with Ecole 42 in the interests of Ukrainian students.
According to the president, the participation of 700 representatives of French business in the conference, while 300 were originally expected, confirms the high interest in Ukraine and the process of its restoration.
Minister of Economy, Finance and the Recovery and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty of France Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday signed two agreements with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the provision of guarantees in the amount of EUR 100 million to support Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Through a Risk Sharing Framework (RSF) between the French government and the EBRD, these guarantees will provide EUR 200 million in emergency liquidity to NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy for the purchase of gas needed for the winter period, and Ukrzaliznytsia for priority expenditure.
In addition, according to the French minister, he signed an agreement with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal on a concessional loan from the Treasury in the amount of EUR 37.6 million for the supply of 20,000 tonnes of rails produced in France by Saarstahl, which will allow repairing more than 150 km of Ukrainian railways.
An agreement was also signed between Matière and Ukraine’s State Road Agency, also known as Ukravtodor, aimed at initiating a project to supply approximately 25 demountable bridges, for which France will offer funding, the minister said.
According to him, another project signed is aimed at ensuring the supply of seeds worth more than EUR 20 million by three French exporting companies – MAS Seeds, Lideas Seeds, RAGT. The state covers the risks associated with this transaction, which allows the implementation of this important project to support the agrarian sector of Ukraine, Le Maire said.
He also signed an agreement with Prime Minister of Ukraine Shmyhal and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, which will give a powerful impetus to French-Ukrainian cooperation in the digital sphere. As part of this agreement, the two countries agreed on a roadmap aimed at achieving rapid and concrete results in key areas of digital sovereignty and development of Ukraine, as well as in the areas of cybersecurity and startup financing through bilateral projects involving French and Ukrainian IT startups. In addition, Ecole 42 and Station F will train and support the Ukrainian startup ecosystem.
