France will help Ukraine survive difficult winter - Macron's special envoy
French companies are working effectively in Ukraine's energy system to help it survive the difficult winter period, and French business investment in Ukraine's economy continues to grow despite the difficult situation at the front.
This was stated by Pierre Elbrun, the French Presidential Envoy for Economic Assistance and Reconstruction of Ukraine, to an Ukrinform correspondent in Strasbourg.
“I have just returned from New York, where I held strategic discussions on Ukraine's energy sector with both US Secretary of State Blinken and G7 foreign ministers. At the same time, France is already active in this sector. A week and a half ago, I traveled to Kyiv with French companies to assess what they can do in terms of equipment, including gas turbines and energy storage solutions,” Elbrun said.
According to him, it is about both assistance and investments in the energy sector from a specially created fund, from which France will provide 60 million euros by the end of the year.
“We have equipment, such as generators and transformers, which were provided as aid. But there are also investment projects supported by the state. We have created a civil infrastructure fund with 200 million euros allocated for it. At least 60 million of it will go to the energy sector by the end of 2024. And these are funds for companies with at least 50% French capital,” he explained.
Among such powerful companies, Elbrun named Schneider Electric, which has been cooperating with Ukrenergo and DTEK since the beginning of the war, helping, in particular, with equipment for repairing networks.
“Schneider Electric is one example, but there are also other big players like Arabelle Solutions [a subsidiary of EDF, the state-owned French energy company] It is leading projects for the winter, such as batteries for energy storage and gas turbines to increase the capacity of power plants,” he explained.
France has also introduced state guarantees for private business investments in Ukraine, compensating up to 95 percent of the funds invested if the project is destroyed due to the war.
According to Elbrun, French businessman Xavier Niel, who recently acquired shares in Datagroup-Volia and mobile operator Lifecell in Ukraine, has made the largest investment in Ukraine's economy not only during the war.
“This is the largest investment in Ukraine in the last 15 years. Yes, a billion euros, and it is a huge amount. But Niels is based on an industrial vision, a strategic vision, and also on trust in Ukraine. Because investing so much private capital now is also a vote of confidence,” he said.
Elbrun also claims that French companies are currently the largest foreign employers in Ukraine, employing 25,000 Ukrainians.
“There is an inflow of investments that we did not have six months ago. Now the number of companies operating in Ukraine in the military and technology sectors is growing every day. Despite the fact that the military situation is complicated and difficult,” Macron's special representative summarized.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the new French government is committed to Europe and Ukraine, so it will keep all aid and investment costs in its budget for next year.