Andrew Forrest launches post-war recovery fund in Ukraine with $740 million
Ukraine will enter a “golden era” after the current conflict with Russia and will become “without a doubt the fastest growing economy in Europe”, according to an Australian mining billionaire. But Andrew Forrest’s predictions aren’t all rosy — he’s donating a whopping $740 million from his personal fortune to a fund that will help rebuild the nation.
The fund announced on Thursday – dubbed the Ukraine Green Growth Initiative – is expected to grow to at least $25 billion and up to $100 billion. Speaking to Australian newspapers Nine, Forrest added: “I don’t want to wait for the last bullet to be fired.”
The fund is compared to the Marshall Plan, an American-backed initiative to rebuild Western Europe after World War II (and indirectly to victory in the Cold War). But this US initiative “started late, four years later [war] ended when there was devastation,” says Forrest, who is worth about $20 billion and founded Western Australian iron ore giant Fortescue Metals in 2003.
Another benefit of the Ukraine fund’s current setup is that it “will signal to the people of Ukraine and the world that they can invest immediately if hostilities cease or Russian forces are expelled from the countries of Ukraine.”
There will also be an opportunity to invest in more state-of-the-art infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday. Russia destroyed large chunks of infrastructure, but much of it was outdated and built with little regard for the environment.
“Andrew and I have agreed that we will not replace Russia’s communist-era garbage infrastructure, but will upgrade to the latest technology,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “We will take advantage of the fact that what the Russians destroyed can easily be replaced with the latest, most modern green and digital infrastructure.”
Russia, which has suffered heavy casualties and embarrassing battlefield retreats, has recently focused on destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“The whole world can see how Russia, which cannot win on the battlefield, is terrorizing civilian infrastructure. The price of reconstruction increases with each new strike,” said Zelinskiy. “One day the attacker will pay for everything in full, but our people cannot wait for months for electricity and heat. We must restore Ukraine now! That’s why this project is so topical. This innovative initiative will enable the world’s first green digital economy and the fastest growing economy in Europe, if not the world.”
Forrest added in a speech on ABC’s Radio National in Australia: “You will remember the German economic miracle, the Japanese economic miracle after World War II… Ukraine will have it quicker. From sovereign wealth funds to professional investors, institutions around the world and in Australia, this would be a good investment.”
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