About 3,000 Polish companies want to participate in Ukraine's reconstruction

Vice President of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (PUCC) Dariusz Szymczycha said this in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent.

The expert said on October 7-8, Poznan would host the Congress for Reconstruction of Ukraine "Common Future," with PUCC among its partners.

"The purpose of this event is to present to Polish entrepreneurs Ukraine, its economy, legal norms, and social situation in the context of Ukraine's needs related to the so-called small reconstruction of the country, current economic cooperation with Ukraine and prospects for the further participation of Polish companies in the reconstruction of Ukraine," Szymczycha said.

He said the organizers expect the event to be attended about 1,000 Polish entrepreneurs and Ukrainian business representatives who have established their enterprises and companies in Poland.

According to him, during the two days of discussions, the participants will be able to get acquainted with the offers of Polish government support for investments in Ukraine, and "there are many of them."

"On the one hand, it is the National Development Bank (BGK), which has its traditional credit lines. On the other hand, there is the possibility of insurance from the Export Credit Insurance Corporation (KUKE), which is the cheapest offer in Europe for business or trade insurance with Ukraine. Thirdly, there is the prospect of European support as part of the Ukraine Facility program, which will probably transfer part of these funds to BGK, and this bank will look for projects that deserve credit support in Ukraine," Szymczycha said.

He noted that PUCC actively promotes the idea of participation in the EU's Ukraine Facility project to rebuild Ukraine among Polish entrepreneurs. In particular, as of today, Poland has collected 60 descriptions of investment projects related to plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine. They are now being checked by BGK experts for further submission of these proposals to the European Commission to receive funds for project implementation.

Szymczycha noted that representatives of the governments, particularly from Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Lithuania, would participate in the "Common Future" Congress for Reconstruction of Ukraine.

"So it will be a good regional discussion about how countries in the region feel about supporting the processes of rebuilding Ukraine," Szymczycha said.

According to him, such regional cooperation between the countries of the region in the reconstruction of Ukraine is possible and necessary.

"As of today, about 3,000 Polish business entities are interested in the reconstruction of Ukraine," he said.

Szymczycha also stressed that more than 600 Polish companies engaged in production or trade were currently operating in Ukraine.

According to him, Polish business is now waiting for a decision from the Polish government on supporting investments in Ukraine.

"We hope that a special fund will be created to support Polish enterprises that want to invest in Ukraine and participate in the reconstruction program," the Polish expert said.

He added that this was about Polish funds that will be an addition to European funds. Negotiations are currently underway at the interdepartmental level on this matter.

Szymczycha emphasized that Warsaw expects more active participation of Polish companies in the reconstruction of Ukraine.

"It should be remembered that Polish investors in Ukraine, such companies as Fakro, Barlinek, Sniezka, Cersanit, did not leave Ukraine despite the war. Despite the destruction of their infrastructure as a result of hostilities, in particular the Fakro company, they did not suspend production, but continue to invest in Ukraine, sustain production, employment, contribute to the Ukrainian budget in the form of taxes, and also support the Ukrainian army," Szymczycha said.

He noted that although the great reconstruction of Ukraine has  not yet begun, Polish business is "very active in Ukraine."

He also called cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian local self-government bodies a good area of cooperation, in particular investments or the transfer of special equipment for the functioning of local self-government bodies in Ukraine in wartime. This concerns, for example, the transfer of buses, waterworks equipment, power grids, etc.