First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko called on French business to start investing in Ukraine. At a meeting with representatives of the largest federation of employers of France “Mouvement des entreprises de France” (MEDEF), she stressed the importance of involving foreign investors in the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The meeting was attended by representatives of various sectors of French business, from aircraft construction and energy to IT developers and agricultural producers.

First of all, Yuliia Svyrydenko thanked the French business for the support of Ukraine and Ukrainians, financial assistance and for condemning the aggression of the russian federation. She also invited French entrepreneurs to start investing in the Ukrainian economy today, without waiting for the end of the war.

“We see opportunities for French companies to participate in the restoration of Ukraine. To this end, we urge French business to engage in a dialogue with your Government in order to provide financial assurances that can be used to attract soft loans guaranteed by the French Export Credit Agency – Bpifrance. We want to continue the dialogue with the French side, which we previously conducted with the United States and the United Kingdom, so that export credit agencies of these countries help insure the war risks of their businesses. This will encourage them to enter the Ukrainian market and develop our economy. We are ready to use and adapt the best practices of French companies and their expertise in various industries. But one of the main requirements set by the Ukrainian Government for investment in our economy is to ensure a certain level of localization in Ukraine so that we could create added value in our country,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to the First Deputy Prime Minister, changes have recently been made to the tax and customs legislation in Ukraine. These changes are aimed at stimulating implementation of activities within the framework of industrial parks.

Thus, today industrial park participants can import new equipment into the customs territory of Ukraine without import duties and value added tax. Profit from economic activities within the industrial parks for 10 consecutive years is also exempt from taxation.

“The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine with the assistance of the technical assistance project of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and with the participation of interested central executive authorities is forming a policy to promote implementation of an eco-industrial park model in Ukraine. I urge French business to invest in our country. I am confident that post-war Ukraine will become an integral part of the European economy,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

Yuliia Svyrydenko also informed the audience about a platform for potential foreign investors – Advantage Ukraine, which collects investment projects and opportunities in 10 sectors of the economy with a total potential of several hundred billion dollars.

Representatives of French business responded positively to the proposal on localization in Ukraine, and the companies that are only considering the possibility of investing in Ukraine expressed interest in cooperating with Ukrainian enterprises.

Some of them would like to use these enterprises as a potential base for entering the Ukrainian market. Others are ready to consider the possibility of opening individual enterprises for the assembly of equipment, organizing partial production, using Ukrainian subcontractors and local materials in the manufacture of their own products.