The world is experiencing a historic investment boom, and private capital has numerous investment opportunities around the globe. Therefore, in order to attract such capital, Ukraine must meet three conditions: continue moving toward European integration, ensure a credible prospect of peace, and provide initial public capital as a catalyst, according to BlackRock Vice Chairman Philipp Hildebrand.
All three elements are interconnected: public capital, enlargement (the EU’s expansion through Ukraine’s accession), and a certain prospect of peace are crucial, he said during the YES Dinner Discussion organized by the Pinchuk Foundation and Yalta European Strategy (YES) in Gdańsk on Wednesday ahead of URC 2026, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
Hildebrand said that the artificial intelligence industry has also emerged as an additional competitor in the race for private capital.
There are many opportunities for capital, which means that as all try to build this reconstruction pathway, it is needed to think about how ultimately to attract private capital to support the long-term economic framework of reconstruction and beyond, the investment banker said.
According to him, he discussed these three conditions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May 2023.
Hildebrand stated that they are much closer to making them a reality.
In his view, Ukraine’s accession to the EU is absolutely critical for ensuring greater stability and strengthening market expectations. Therefore, the opening of the first negotiating cluster represents a major breakthrough.
The second factor is that at some point you need the prospect of peace, or at least stability and an end to hostilities. It is very difficult to mobilize private capital on a large scale if there is not at least a prospect of peace, the BlackRock representative explained, recalling a difficult discussion with Zelenskyy on the issue in 2023.
As for public capital, he noted that private capital is scarce in the initial stages, making public capital necessary to take the lead and attract long-term private investment. This, he said, is confirmed by the experience of other post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
Hildebrand expressed hope that today, more than at any time since the beginning, they are on the threshold of being able to develop a framework for attracting private capital.
