At an event in Davos, Volodymyr Zelensky, the head and largest money manager in the world, said that Ukraine will need more than $750bn (£608bn).
Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, outlined a figure that is higher than the World Bank’s June 2022 estimate of $350bn.
Larry Fink, Chairman & CEO of BlackRock: "The crowd here is. I am overwhelmed with the number of attendees at this Breakfast. This shows how much support there is out there." #UkraineisYouDavos #RussianWarCrimes
— Pinchuk Foundation (@PinchukFund) January 19, 2023
He spoke at a breakfast held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, saying that the need for economic recovery and assistance is likely to be close to $750bn according to conversations with President Zelensky and the economic team.
Fink stated that this will require both the public and private sectors to collaborate “whether it’s any of the intergovernmental agency (such as IMF and World Bank), or the Europeans plus the attraction of private capital”.
He said, “The only way to do this is to build a foundation that can identify the country’s needs.”
Yesterday, the prime minister of Ukraine suggested that the final reconstruction bill could exceed $1 trillion. The UK’s annual economic output amounts to just below $3 trillion.
Boris Johnson compared Vladimir Putin to “the Fatboy in Dickens”, who wants to make us eat with the threat of nuclear war.
According to the World Bank, Ukraine’s economy contracted by 35pc last year. However, economic activity was hampered by the loss of productive capacity and damage to agricultural land. In addition, there has been a reduction in labour supply due to more than 14,000,000 people being displaced by war.
At the meeting heard from Mr Zelensky that the war had been slowing down due to winter. He also said that motivation and morale are not sufficient to win.
