Financial and humanitarian support for Ukraine, investments in recovery and bilateral cooperation were discussed during a meeting between Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy, and Mariam Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Head of the Office of International Affairs under the President of the United Arab Emirates.

"Russia keeps terrorising the civilian Ukrainian population by attacking critical infrastructure and residential areas, resulting in numerous casualties and destruction. Thousands of civilians have been killed, many wounded, and nearly 100,000 civilian infrastructure facilities damaged or destroyed. A few days ago, Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, causing one of the largest man-made disasters in Europe in recent decades. As a result of another crime of the Russian federation, 80 settlements were flooded, part of the flora and fauna of the Kherson Oblast was destroyed, several million people may be left without drinking water, food security is threatened and other catastrophic consequences are at risk. Ukraine will be able to overcome these challenges only with the support of international partners," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

The Minister of Economy thanked the Government of the UAE and personally Mariam Almheiri for the humanitarian and financial support provided to Ukraine and expressed her hope for a favourable consideration of the urgent humanitarian needs of civilians in the flooded area and financial assistance to overcome the humanitarian consequences of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant disaster.

It is worth noting that since Russia's full-scale invasion, the UAE has sent Ukraine more than 230 tonnes of humanitarian aid (medicines, medical equipment, food) and 4 ambulances. In April this year, the Emirates transferred USD 4 million for the construction of 10 family-type orphanages in Ukraine. To support Ukraine in overcoming the energy crisis caused by the aggressor's actions, the UAE supplied 2,500 generators to Ukraine as part of the $100 million humanitarian aid provided by the UAE leadership.

First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yuliia Svyrydenko, also noted that although the Government has managed to stabilise the financial system, Ukraine needs financial support from its partners to maintain macro-financial stability in the future.

The meeting also focused on the reconstruction of Ukraine, in which the Ukrainian side invited UAE foundations and companies to join, as well as on strengthening trade cooperation between the two countries. In particular, the meeting was also attended by representatives of the UAE sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, which owns assets in such industries as rail and air transport, port logistics, full-cycle agriculture, medicine and pharmaceutical production, energy and innovative technologies. During the meeting, the strategic vision of the Ukrainian side in transforming the economy of our country was presented, which received extremely positive feedback from the Arab partners.

Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksandr Hryban made a brief presentation of the concept of the Ukrainian Development Fund, which is being developed by the Ministry and the Office of the President with the advisory support of the world's largest asset management company, Black Rock. Ukraine is counting on the UAE's active participation in this initiative.

As a result, it was agreed to launch the process of analysing investment opportunities in Ukraine, to which the UAE delegation showed great interest.

During the visit, a memorandum of cooperation was also signed between the State Property Fund of Ukraine and Contango, a leader in providing strategic consulting services to support transformation processes, in particular, the creation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Ukraine, which is being developed by the SPFU together with the Ministry of Economy.  

"Ukraine undoubtedly sees the United Arab Emirates as an important economic partner in the Middle East region and shares a mutual interest in improving the balance of bilateral trade by creating appropriate conditions for trade, business development and investment. An important step in this direction is the launch of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the UAE. The signing of the Agreement will make our economies complementary, and we look forward to working together to promote trade, digital economy and investment cooperation between our countries, while practical cooperation with leading strategic advisers, such as Contango, will allow us to adapt the best practices of the UAE and maximise the capitalisation of Ukrainian national assets," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.