President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised a level playing field to businesses and his personal protection to investors at the first Donbas investment forum, organized by his office and held on Oct. 29 in Mariupol, a city in Donetsk Oblast.
In a speech at the forum, called RE:THINK, Zelensky said that bringing the war in Donbas to an end and returning territories occupied by Russian-backed militants to Ukrainian control is the country’s priority, but that this is impossible without stable economic growth and investment.
Zelensky assured forum attendees that businesses of all sizes, both domestic and foreign, would be treated equally and fairly by the reformed law enforcement agencies, Prosecutor General’s Office, and judiciary. He also pledged to fight corruption and expressed his support for independent anti-corruption agencies such as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigations and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
“Corrupt courts scare investors off no less than shooting and explosions,” Zelensky said.
The president also addressed one of the major concerns of international institutions and investors: Ukraine’s largest lender, PrivatBank. Seized from its former owners, oligarchs Ihor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Boholyubov, in December 2016 and nationalized after investigators discovered a $5.5-billion hole in its ledgers, the bank has become the subject of legal intrigue in the ensuing years. The two oligarchs have repeatedly challenged the nationalization in court, and many fear that Zelensky might give into the demands of Kolomoisky, his former business partner.
Zelensky attempted to dispel that belief at the forum.
“I will only defend Ukraine’s interests,” he said. “The rumors that me or someone from the presidential office is going to return the bank to its former owners are false.”
He also reiterated that Ukraine will continue cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and fulfill the key requirements for a new aid programme: lifting a moratorium on farmland sales and privatizing state enterprises.
“To those who accuse us of hasty decisions (in a) turbo regime, it is better to move forward quickly and make mistakes than stand still,” Zelensky said.
