Philipp Hildebrand, vice chairman of BlackRock, announced in Davos the start of a much-touted Ukrainian reconstruction bank in five to six months. This bank, which was announced last year, is put together by BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase for the Ukrainian government. Hildebrand said that $500 million have been pledged by now and he expects about $1 billion to get started.
Penny Pritzker, U.S. special envoy for reconstruction of Ukraine spoke about the interest of promising investors, who are ready for higher risk. This “higher risk” will have to be mitigated by donor countries (i.e., tax payers) with so-called “soft” commitments and institutions, before wealth from pension funds managed by BlackRock’s can be mobilized. That’s what Hildebrand admitted, when he said that for such investments, the risk level has to correspond to OECD standards. About 280 projects have applied to the fund so far, with around 30 projects being considered by BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase.
Rostyslav Shurma, deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office, expects 1 billion commitments in “catalytic capital.” This term refers to capital-like investments, debt and guarantees in which the investor accepts higher risk for greater social impact, according to Reuters.
