JPMorgan Will Help Rebuild Ukraine With Fund As Large As $30 Billion | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Ben Zeisloft.

    JPMorgan Chase signed an agreement with the Ukrainian government in the hopes of coordinating between $20 billion and $30 billion in funds to rebuild the war-torn country.

    Senior officials from the largest bank in the United States met last week in Kyiv and other major cities with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his staffers, according to a report from Fox Business. On the eve of the Super Bowl, executives from JPMorgan Chase provided the head of state with a New England Patriots jersey emblazoned with the number 91, signifying the year Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union.

    "I understand very well that doing business and investing cannot be beneficial to only one party. We want you to invest in Ukraine and earn money," Zelensky said in a statement.

    The panel of JPMorgan Chase bankers and Ukrainian government officials also hosted an online investment summit with more than 200 corporations, investors, and financial institutions. Participants discussed forming a mechanism through which the nation can attract private capital for information technology, renewable energy sources, and agricultural technology initiatives.

    "We are proud of our long-standing support of Ukraine and committed to doing our part to lift up the country and its people," JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said, adding that the bank's "full resources" are available to the nation "as it charts its post-conflict path to growth."

    The announcement comes two months after asset management company BlackRock endorsed a similar memorandum of understanding with the Ukrainian government. Analysts at the firm will "include advice on the structure, investment process, governance and use of proceeds for a fund" while creating "opportunity for both public and private investors to participate in reconstructing and rejuvenating the market economy in Ukraine by delivering fair and just returns to investors," according to another statement from the government's executive branch.

    Although the extent of damage to the labor force, infrastructure, and natural resources of Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion has not yet been measured, an estimate from the World Bank published in the weeks after the conflict said the Ukrainian economy would contract more than 45% in 2022, while the Russian economy would shrink more than 11%.

    The Biden administration has provided Ukraine with more than $24.2 billion in military assistance over the past year, according to a report from the Defense Department. The federal government has also provided $9.9 billion in humanitarian aid and $15.1 billion in budgetary aid, according to an analysis from the Council on Foreign Relations, far surpassing the assistance offered by European Union institutions and member states.

    Zelensky said during an address to the United States Congress last year that aid from Western nations would accelerate victory against Russia. "Financial assistance is also critically important, and I would like to thank you, thank you very much, thank you for both financial packages you have already provided us with and the ones you may be willing to decide on," he remarked. "Your money is not charity. It's an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way."