After the meeting on Tuesday morning December 13 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the conference continued at the Ministry of the Economy on Tuesday afternoon. Objective: to mobilize French companies for reconstruction, in the presence of some 500 French companies, from the behemoths of the CAC 40 to digital start-ups. France announced on Tuesday three agreements with Ukraine for the supply of rails, bridges and seeds.
Several agreements have been signed. Agreements for an amount of approximately 100 million euros in infrastructure and agriculture.
They concern, among other things, the supply of rails produced in France by Saarstahl Rail. Enough to repair 150 km of Ukrainian railways. For this, a concessional loan from the Treasury of 38 million euros has just been signed.
The company Matière is committed to the delivery of 25 bridges in kits.
Finally, three French groups will deliver more than 20 million euros worth of seeds…
On the occasion of this conference, two agreements between France and the EBRD, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, were also initialed. The mechanism will make it possible to grant 200 million euros in cash to Naftogaz, for gas purchases for the winter, and to the Ukrainian railway company. The EBRD also granted a loan of 300 million euros to the electricity network manager UkrEnergo.
Paris also intends to give “new impetus” to Franco-Ukrainian economic relations. Representatives of the Ukrainian government presented their needs to some 700 companies.
” Our response to Putin’s destruction is European reconstruction and French reconstruction. And President Zelensky said it very clearly: this cannot wait said French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire.
It is immediately that we must provide answers to the Ukrainian population. The Ukrainian population immediately felt cold and needed help to rebuild power stations. It is immediately that the Ukrainian population can no longer move from one city to another because the roads have been destroyed. They have to be rebuilt. And so, I confirm that as of today, we are going to sign contracts for 100 million euros, 150 km of rails which will be supplied by Saarstahl Rail, 30 additional mobile bridges, agricultural seeds. So, three series of contracts that illustrate the French commitment in Ukraine. With, as I said, one objective: not to leave an inch of ground to destruction. It’s destroyed, we will rebuild. You keep destroying, we will keep rebuilding. And if you persist in the systematic destruction of the Ukrainian territory, we will persist until the end in the methodical, determined and friendly reconstruction of the Ukrainian territory, underlined Bruno Le Maire.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire: “Rebuild Ukraine without delay”
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