Government incentives for investors, access to project financing, risk insurance and loan guarantees, priority sectors for investment and joint projects with Ukrainian companies, as well as the participation of Finnish business in the recovery of Ukraine were among the issues addressed during a meeting between the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of the Republic of Finland Ville Tavio. The event was also attended by Deputy Ministers Taras Kachka, Volodymyr Kuzio, Oleksiy Sobolev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to Ukraine Jaakko Lehtovirta, and representatives of Finnish business.

"The Government highly appreciates Finland's readiness to help Ukraine in its recovery, in particular, to invest in the energy sector, assess environmental damage, strengthen border and critical infrastructure protection, and provide medical treatment for Ukrainian soldiers.

So far, Finland's assistance has reached almost EUR 2 billion, and both governments are willing to further strengthen economic ties and promote business partnerships. For its part, Ukraine has a number of investment incentive tools and initiatives to support private sector development," said Yuliia Svyrydenko. "For example, the Government has proposed several investment support programs for 2024. Among other things, a package of incentives for residents of Ukraine's industrial parks and investors with significant investments of EUR 12 million or more will benefit from preferential taxation, compensation for infrastructure costs and connection to the power grid, exemption from customs duties on new equipment, etc. In addition, the introduction of Pillar II under the Ukraine Facility will help to access EUR 9 billion in project financing over the next four years through the provision of IFI guarantees.

"Ukraine's investment opportunities over the next 10 years amount to more than USD 292 billion. We have now identified sectors for investment that may be of interest to Finnish companies: energy, transport and logistics, agro-processing, critical materials, green steel, digital transformation, including IT and communications. We are confident that large Finnish companies will be interested in exploring investment opportunities in Ukraine," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

The First Deputy Prime Minister added that Ukraine had opportunities to insure against war risks, including through export credit agencies of other countries. In particular, the Government of Finland is ready to compensate for the credit risk of up to EUR 50 million through the national ECA Finnvera by providing export credit guarantees to promote exports and investments in Ukraine. The Ukrainian side expressed hope that future joint projects will be implemented in 2025-2026 on the principles of public sector investment.

Finnfund's investment in Ukraine through Horizon Capital Growth Fund IV was also mentioned. The Government is interested in further active cooperation within the framework of Finnpartnership - supporting business partnerships and increasing the interest of Finnish companies in cooperation with Ukrainian partners.

In addition, the Chamber of Commerce EastCham Finland has decided to open an office in Kyiv in cooperation with the Confederation of Finnish Industries to promote recovery projects and provide Finnish companies with access to the Ukrainian market.

The Ukrainian side also invited Finnish colleagues to the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024, which will be held in June in Berlin and will become an effective platform for consolidating support for Ukraine.