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“We have to be proactive, we should be doing this right now,” Hoyer said, speaking at Forum-2000 conference in Prague, Czech Republic.
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“There are some on the bank’s board, particularly certain finance ministers, who are very responsible about EIB’s funds, and say: we should avoid investing in something if it still can get destroyed by Russians. I’m convinced that’s the wrong approach.”
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According to Hoyer, free and liberated areas of Ukraine will “bear the brunt of the rebuilding,” and are currently “keeping the Ukrainian economy running.”
“We ought to rejuvenate these areas right now,” said Hoyer.
“We’ve financed many Ukrainian hospitals since 2007, which have been destroyed in the war . Those hospitals are needed right now. We can’t wait for a ‘lasting peace’ to emerge.”
The official added that public funds won’t be enough to finance Ukrainian renewal, meaning that the private sector would have to be mobilized for the effort.
“We had an EU instrument like that in recent years – the European Guarantee Fund; perhaps something similar could be set up here as well,” Hoyer concluded.
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