"A great place to invest": Zelenskyy meets with business leaders in Davos

In Davos, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the world's largest financial institutions.

The meeting was also attended by:

• James Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase,
• Mary Erdoes, Chief Executive Officer of JP Morgan Asset & Wealth Management
• Stefan Weiler, Head of Capital Markets at JP Morgan,
• Penny Pritzker, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery,
• Philip Hildebrand, Vice Chairman of BlackRock,
• Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates investment company
• David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group, a private investment company
• founder and owner of Dell Michael Dell,
• Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group investment company,
• Australian entrepreneur Andrew Forrest,
• Lakshmi Mittal, founder of ArcelorMittal.

Zelenskyy emphasized that during the war, it is important to develop and implement mechanisms of mixed financing that combine private and public capital.

"This is where we see your direct role right now. I know that you are actively cooperating with our team. I am looking forward to a concrete result," the President said.

The Head of State expressed hope that global financial funds would help attract a large number of global investors and corporations to the Ukrainian economy.

The mood in the room where President Zelensky met with business leaders on Tuesday morning was "upbeat, determined, positive," said U.S. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.

Coons is one of fifty people who attended the meeting with the Ukrainian president to support Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Kuhns, who wears a pin with the flags of the United States and Ukraine, explains that the meeting went "very well, it was very inspiring" and was a show of business and political support for Ukraine.

"Zelensky told us about the war with Russia and the determination of the Ukrainian people. He urged businessmen to remain as determined as the Ukrainian people and bring the war to an end," Kuhns said.

The meeting was attended by prominent bankers (including Brian Moynihan of Bank of America), as well as the CEO of fertilizer giant Yara, according to Kuns.

The CEO of Youtube spoke about the efforts they have made to take down Russian disinformation and malicious content and make sure that students can learn, companies can communicate, and the government can work.

Ursula von der Leyen spoke about her six visits to Kyiv during the war and how impressed she was with the efforts of Ukrainians to fight corruption and increase transparency to create a good business environment.

Participants also heard from NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg about the state of the war and some important achievements in the Black Sea, as well as the challenges of the spring and summer offensive.

Penny Pritzker, the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery, spoke at the meeting about how she recently took a group of American business representatives to Kyiv to see Ukraine's opportunities firsthand.

Coons emphasized that the Ukrainian people have demonstrated their fierce determination, great attitude, work ethic, and very good skills, technical ability and agility, engineering skills, and the ability to find a way even when they are up against a force that is superior in weaponry and numbers.

"It's a great place to invest," Koons said of Ukraine.

He argues that the process (of investing) can begin even before the war ends, in parts of the country that are less affected by the conflict but are stable and secure.

Regarding U.S. aid, Coons told the meeting he was confident that the United States would provide the $61 billion requested by President Joe Biden for Ukraine.

"There will be a lot of disagreement, there will be a lot of pushing and shoving, noise, but I'm confident that within a few weeks it will be over," Coons said.

Von der Leyen said at the meeting that she is confident that the 50 billion euros from the EU for development for the next four years will also be allocated.

According to Kuhns, the meeting also raised concerns that the war in the Middle East could push Ukraine off the geopolitical agenda.

But he is confident that there is support for Ukraine on both sides of the Senate. He adds that U.S. financial support has helped Ukraine's agricultural sector and the economy as a whole, citing its significant growth this year.

"This year, it (the agricultural sector – ed.) grew by almost 5%, in the midst of a war, a difficult war, where you have a huge amount of land that is now unfit for cultivation, filled with mines and unexploded ordnance, tens of thousands of people who have to work on the front lines, and millions of people who have left the country," the senator said.

Background. As a reminder, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Russia is failing to achieve its strategic goals in Ukraine.