President of Ukraine

President thanked the EBRD President for signing an agreement on the major repair of roads in Ukraine

21 December 2020 - 15:10

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Odile Renaud-Basso.

The President congratulated the interlocutor on her election as President of the EBRD and stressed that the importance of cooperation with the Bank for Ukraine is difficult to overestimate - today it is the largest institutional investor in our country.

"As far as I know, this year's portfolio of the bank's projects has already reached 730 million euros, and by the end of the year this amount may reach 900 million euros. We are very pleased that especially during the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank continues to actively invest in Ukraine and provide support to Ukrainian business," Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.

He stressed that despite the crisis, the Ukrainian banking system is stable and the budget is being implemented. The President said that the IMF mission started its work in Ukraine today, and according to its results, another tranche is expected to be received in early 2021 in the framework of the stand-by program.

The parties discussed in detail the course of reforms in Ukraine.

"This year we have adopted a law on the land market, launched a reform of the tax and customs services, signed the first concession agreements, and actively conduct “small” privatization and digitization of all public services," the President said.

The President of Ukraine also emphasized that the country's leadership is making daily efforts to overcome the constitutional crisis in close cooperation with the Venice Commission, and progress in this direction is pretty fast. He noted that the functioning of electronic declaration was restored and the law on the resumption of full-fledged work of the NACP was passed. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the necessary bills on judicial reform have already been prepared and structural reforms are underway despite the impact of the pandemic.

President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Odile Renaud-Basso praised the efforts and activities aimed at resuming the work of the NACP.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the program of large-scale renovation of the infrastructure "Large Construction", according to which about 4,200 km of state roads, as well as 2,500 km of local roads will be repaired and built in Ukraine already this year.

"Active cooperation with the EBRD, the European Investment Bank and other financial institutions is important for us in terms of attracting additional credit funds for infrastructure investment. And I commend the agreement signed with Ukravtodor on December 18, which will allow us to start the major repair of roads next year," the President of Ukraine said.

The President congratulated Odile Renaud-Basso on the upcoming holidays and invited her to pay a visit to Ukraine.