JP Morgan Agrees to Help Ukraine Attract Private Investments to Rebuild Infrastructure

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 24, 2022. (Alexey Furman/Getty Images)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with senior members of JPMorgan Chase in Kyiv on Feb. 11 after the two parties signed a “memorandum of understanding” to attract private investments to aid in the reconstruction of the war-torn nation’s infrastructure.

Zelenskyy also appeared via video link at “one of the largest annual investment summits organized by JP Morgan,” which was attended by 200 of the largest corporations, investors, and financial companies over the weekend, according to a statement from Zelenskyy’s office.

The Ukrainian leader and bank members spent the weekend discussing the creation of a “platform for attracting private capital to rebuild Ukraine” following Russia’s invasion, which has left much of the country’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, according to the statement.

They also spoke of “promising directions of large investment projects in Ukraine, particularly in the sectors of green energy, IT, and agricultural technologies.”

The meetings over the weekend were also attended by Anton Pil, JPMorgan’s global head of alternatives, asset management; Stefan Weiler, head of debt capital markets in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and Vince La Padula, global head of lending, deposits, and custody and CEO of JPM Wealth Workplace.

Memorandum of Understanding

Zelenskyy’s meeting with JPMorgan senior members occurred after Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s economy minister, said on Feb. 9 that the banking giant—which manages an investment fund worth $4 trillion—had agreed to help Kyiv attract private investments to aid in reconstruction and postwar economic growth and that the two parties had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the matter.

Under the MOU, JPMorgan will advise the Ukrainian government on issues relating to financial stabilization, the development and coordination of strategies for refinancing and debt restructuring, obtaining sovereign credit ratings, and the digitization of the economy, among other things.

“It is important for us that every stage of the recovery process is as transparent as possible. That is why the involvement of such institutions as JPMorgan should become a symbol of such transparency,” Svyridenko said.

Both parties agreed to include representatives of JPMorgan in the “group of advisers and representatives of the financial investment sector of the capital market” together with investment company BlackRock, she noted.

During their time in Kyiv, Zelenskyy promised JPMorgan bankers that any investment in Ukraine wouldn’t be a one-way street.

“I understand very well that doing business and investing cannot be beneficial to only one party. We want you to invest in Ukraine and earn money,” he said, according to his office.

JPMorgan Pledges ‘Full Resources’

Zelenskyy also touted Ukraine as an important contributor to cyber security and food security around the world as he laid out more reasons to invest in the country’s long-term redevelopment.

“We are proud of our long-standing support of Ukraine and committed to doing our part to lift up the country and its people. The full resources of JPMorgan Chase are available to Ukraine as it charts its post-conflict path to growth,” Jamie Dimon, the firm’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

In December 2022, Anna Bjerde, the World Bank’s vice president for Europe and Central Asia, told the Austrian newspaper Die Presse that the estimated cost of rebuilding Ukraine’s damaged or destroyed infrastructure would cost at least 500 billion euros ($533 billion).

Zelenskyy made a surprise visit to the UK and France last week, to call on leaders of those nations to supply Ukraine with more fighter jets and weapons amid the ongoing Russian invasion.

Leaders from both nations, as well as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have vowed to continue aiding Ukraine, including via military support.

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the European Union has contributed 52 billion euros ($55 billion) in military, financial, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since February 2022, while the United States has contributed almost 48 billion euros ($51 billion).