Shmyhal presents benefits of investing in Ukraine at meeting with US business in Washington

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal held a meeting with representatives of the U.S. business in Washington on Wednesday, during which he outlined the key benefits of investing in Ukraine, the Communications Department of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine said.

"Investments in Ukraine are investments in a future member of the European Union," Shmyhal said, emphasizing that Ukraine has begun negotiations on accession to the EU and seeks to complete this process in two years, while integration into the EU internal market continues, and European directives are being implemented to synchronize legislation.

"The reconstruction of Ukraine will be the largest economic project in Europe in recent generations. The World Bank estimates the total volume of reconstruction needs at over $500 billion. And this is a market for projects that will be available to the private sector for implementation," the prime minister said, adding that the main areas are housing, power grids, roads, ports and engineering infrastructure.

Separately, the prime minister said frozen Russian assets could be the main resource for reconstruction. "About $300 billion of Russian assets are frozen in the West. The G7 countries have already launched the ERA mechanism, which involves using profits from frozen Russian assets. This is $50 billion for Ukraine. The second step is the complete confiscation of Russian assets," he said.

According to Shmyhal, almost 100 new companies from the United States appeared in Ukraine last year, and the number of international companies already present in the Ukrainian market and planning to continue investing despite the war increased to 70% in 2024.