A Ukraine reconstruction bank being set up by Kyiv with help from BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase has at least $500M in committed capital and could be ready to launch in five to six months with close to $1B, said vice president of BlackRock Inc. Philipp Hildebrand.
“We want to be ready to deploy with at least soft commitments from donor countries,” Hildebrand said, adding that mobilizing BlackRock’s assets, which consist of pension funds, would require risk levels to adhere to OECD standards.
So far, around 280 projects have applied to the fund. BlackRock and JPMorgan have identified close to 30 projects that could be seriously considered, said Deputy Head of the Office of the President Rostyslav Shurma.
Penny Pritzker, the US special representative for the recovery of Ukraine, pointed to the fund being raised by JPMorgan and BlackRock, saying that they have reported “early interest from some promising investors willing to take on more risk”.