Interfax calls attention to the fact that the Ukrainian Economy Ministry and the consulting unit of the world’s largest investment company BlackRock have signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington, agreeing upon a framework of advisory assistance for the stated purpose of developing a special platform for drawing private capital for Ukraine’s recovery and support of its economy, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the Economy Ministry on Friday. The memorandum formalizes preliminary discussions held in September, of options for drawing public and private investment in Ukraine between President Vladimir Zelensky and BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink.
“We hope for cooperation with BlackRock FMA, and we hope that this recovery platform will be an efficient mechanism for mobilizing investment in key sectors of our economy,” is the comment by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko, quoted in the statement issued by the Ministry.
The agreement envisions that BlackRock Financial Markets Advisory (BlackRock FMA), an independent unit of the company, will provide advisory support to the Ukrainian Economy Ministry in drawing up a road map for setting up an investment platform, where primarily private capital should be attracted.
The foreshadowing of how this will or won’t work, is cast by a similar agreement for Western investments promoted in September 2019 by Zelensky for the region Mariupol; no investments were realized. Western forces were busy perpetrating a showdown with Russia.
