Ukraine ready to develop cooperation with EBRD – Zelensky

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Ukraine appreciates cooperation with international partners such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank.
The president said this at a meeting with EBRD Vice President Alain Pilloux on Tuesday evening, the press service of the head of state reported.

Zelensky emphasized that this meeting was important for the economy and investment climate in Ukraine. He noted that our country appreciated cooperation with international partners such as the IMF, the EBRD and the World Bank. He also assured of readiness to develop such cooperation.

During the meeting, Zelensky said that the Ukrainian authorities were ready to carry out market reforms and fight corruption, as well as took concrete steps in that direction.

The president noted that the Verkhovna Rada was already considering a package of reform bills. In particular, the EBRD-sponsored concession bill, a draft law to abolish the list of entities not subject to privatization and a package of deregulation laws that would allow Ukraine to improve its position in the Doing Business ranking. In addition, a split law was adopted that implements international regulatory and supervisory standards in the non-banking financial sector.

The Ukrainian government is also working on a land reform model. Zelensky hopes that it will be adopted by the end of the year.

The president stressed that those initiatives would accelerate economic growth, liberalize the economy and create opportunities for systemic investment. And Ukraine is counting on the EBRD's support in attracting strategic foreign investors.

The head of state expects that in the next 2-3 years the EBRD will increase its investments up to more than 1 billion euros a year and make them more competitive for the private sector in Ukraine, especially in the issue of capital cost.

Zelensky assured that foreign investors and partners could always count on an open and honest dialogue in the framework of the National Investment Council, the work of which was continued.

The parties also discussed issues of further cooperation, in particular, in the banking sector and infrastructure development.

The president of Ukraine invited the EBRD representatives to participate in an investment forum that will be held in Mariupol in late October.