Thank you very much.
Thank you to all the attendees.
Thank you, Emmanuel, for all the words - the words of support - that you just said.
The words of support for our society, Ukraine. Thank you very much for the news - it is important, pragmatic, yet very important and pleasant regarding the large contribution, regarding the support for Ukraine in the amount of 1 billion - it is really very important for us.
And I want to say in general, Mr. President, I feel it and thank you once again for the fact that this day really became the day of Ukraine in France.
This is extremely important - and not only for our country. I am sure that now we can feel how strong we all are together - Ukrainians, French, all Europeans.
Ladies and Gentlemen! Dear friends!
We can feel it in the way we implement our values in overcoming the ruins brought by Russia. Any tyranny leaves ruins behind. On the contrary, European democracy must guarantee well-being and security - and this is exactly what we can show now. Show in Ukraine.
That is why such an extended format of our work is important. Interstate cooperation at the level of presidents and governments - and cooperation at the level of local communities. The leading role of French business. Your non-governmental and professional associations.
Today here, at our Forum and at the Conference that took place in the morning, at other events, the full power of French society is represented. And I believe that thanks to the timely investment of your strength in Ukraine, we will achieve equally beneficial results for both Ukraine and France, for ordinary Ukrainians, and for all your citizens.
To list everything that was destroyed by Russia in Ukraine, all our needs for reconstruction and modernization, time set in regulations for this meeting of ours won’t be enough for sure.
I will focus on several areas now.
The first is the Chernihiv region of our country, the region over which France has already taken patronage.
We’ve ousted the Russian army from there in the spring already. The hostilities in the Chernihiv region, as well as in other northern regions of Ukraine, lasted less than in the east or the south. But there is also significant destruction there.
In general, 8,896 objects need to be restored in the Chernihiv region only in the framework of the Fast Recovery Plan - i.e. the objects that require immediate efforts. These are more than a thousand apartment buildings that were damaged or destroyed by shelling. More than 7 thousand private houses. And also hospitals, schools, communications, transport, enterprises. And this is only one region!
Part of the work is already underway. In particular, France has already provided us with assistance in the restoration of bridges. But both for the French state and for French companies, there are much more opportunities and projects that need implementation.
Today, Ukrainian government officials will present our needs for the fast recovery. And I invite you all to join! Join now - including in the framework of France's patronage over the Chernihiv region.
In total, hostilities directly affected the territory of eleven regions. The scope of our Fast Recovery Plan, which covers other regions as well, is more than fifty thousand objects and more than 12 billion euros.
The second direction is charity.
In her speech at the Conference in the morning, the First Lady of Ukraine presented a project to restore one of the hospitals of the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, the hub hospital in the city of Izyum. This is one of those projects for which Olena’s Foundation raises funds.
Today, the Foundation will be presented in France, thank you for that. All areas of its work will be presented. These are education, healthcare and humanitarian aid.
In each of these directions, people, public associations and companies of France can show themselves. And I ask you, Emmanuel, Mr. President, and I ask Mrs. Brigitte Macron to support this Foundation and, if possible, to be present there today.
This is now an unconditional moral dominant in our society - everyone strives to do something that will strengthen us all - all of Ukraine.
Someone can help the defense. Someone keeps jobs and even creates new ones - during the war. Someone joins the reconstruction. Thousands of people show volunteer initiative, participate in relevant projects. And also there is the social sphere - education, medicine, assistance to the elderly and assistance to displaced people... I invite all of you, friends, to choose your own direction!
And the third is the economy.
The already mentioned Chernihiv region and all other regions of our country need a new economic basis for life. Of course, all the details will be presented today by our government officials. But I will now draw your attention to something that you have undoubtedly already heard about.
This year, due to the joint efforts of Ukraine and our partners, we managed to stop the spread of the global food crisis. We have restored seaborne agricultural exports from Ukraine, which have been blocked by the Russian fleet since the start of the full-scale war. Since August of this year, we have already exported more than 13 million tons of food.
We also launched the globally important humanitarian initiative "Grain from Ukraine" - and I thank France and President Macron for supporting it. Thanks to this initiative of ours, we will help the poorest countries in the world with food. Such countries as Ethiopia, Yemen, Sudan, and others. This is the salvation of millions of lives from famine and all the countries of the Mediterranean Basin from outbreaks of the migration crisis.
But, friends, we send mainly agricultural raw materials both for export and as humanitarian cargo. And we can send processed products.
It means that right now we need to develop an entire industry, which will be export-oriented, will definitely have consumers and will definitely be profitable. It is obvious that this is a profitable economic project. And it would be expedient for the French business to already assess the prospects and come to Ukraine for such a project.
Likewise, we now have tremendous opportunities in energy, engineering, defense industry, transport, construction, IT and many other industries. Opportunities that you will not find anywhere else in the world now. Only in Ukraine can a large-scale project of ecological and modern re-industrialization be implemented quite quickly, and we have a clear understanding of how to do it.
I know that today the representatives of our state will invite specific companies to cooperate and will outline the general prospects - what exactly we can offer to French business and what decisions we need at the level of the French state.
Please join in! First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and representative of the Office of the President Rostyslav Shurma will present specific areas of possible cooperation.
The sooner and more effectively we combine the power of Ukraine and France, the more we will benefit from it. And the more reliable peace will be, which, I am sure, we will be able to return to our country and all of Europe.
I thank you for your attention!
Thank you, Emmanuel.
Please be proactive today in your communication with our government officials.
Long live France!
Glory to Ukraine!