Poland setting up investment fund to promote development of Polish, Ukrainian businesspeople in Ukraine

MOSCOW. Nov 2 (Interfax) - Poland plans to launch an investment fund for supporting Polish and Ukrainian businesspeople in Ukraine, which would provide for investment insurance, Polish governmental envoy for Polish-Ukrainian development cooperation Jadwiga Emilewicz said at a meeting with businesspeople at the Kiev office of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency a few days ago.

"Together with the Polish Development Fund, we are preparing to launch an investment fund by the end of the year, which would finance the development of Ukrainian and Polish small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine," Ukrainian media quoted Emilewicz as saying.

To implement this and other projects, the Polish Finance Ministry has cleared an increase in government funding for cooperation programs with Ukraine starting from 2024, Emilewicz said, without providing details.

These investments will be insured by the Polish state export credit insurance agency (KUKE), which, based on the recent legislative amendments, has expanded its scope of activity and has started insuring and reinsuring investment and export contracts of not only Polish, but also international companies, including Ukrainian ones, since September.

"KUKE is the only insurer in the world that covers risks associated with payments for products transported and delivered to customers in Ukraine. KUKE is currently implementing a first contract in the interests of a company outside of Poland by insuring risks of a German company investing in Ukraine," Emilewicz said.

The opening of an office of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Poland under an agreement signed between Poland and the UN in September affords yet another opportunity for attracting investment in Ukraine's reconstruction, she said.

"The UNOPS office will work closer to the Ukrainian borders, and this will enable more international funding for reconstruction projects. We are organizing training sessions for Polish entrepreneurs to prepare them for UNOPS tenders, and Ukrainian businesspeople will also have this opportunity soon," she said.

UNOPS implements infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management, and human resources projects of the UN system, international financial institutions, and governments, she said.

The Polish Development Fund comprises six government agencies responsible for financing, insuring, and facilitating operations of Polish businesses on the domestic and international market. The overall financing for the development of Polish companies totals 21.6 billion zloty, an equivalent of about $5.2 billion. The fund incorporates the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, which represents the interests of Polish businesses in 70 regions. Since the start of the crisis in Ukraine, an office of Diia.Business and a co-working space for Ukrainian entrepreneurs have been opened at the agency's central office in Warsaw.