It’s hard to think of contracts signed during the bombing of Ukraine, but Ukrainian and Western leaders are already pushing for private investment to begin rebuilding a country devastated by nearly a year of war, AFP reports.

“Not only political support will allow the reconstruction of Ukraine,” said French President Emmanuel Macron before the Franco-Ukrainian conference in support of the country’s reconstruction, which will be held on Tuesday at the French Ministry of Economy.

“Companies are the ones who will implement their decisions to help recovery,” the head of state added, and “without waiting for the end of the war.”

After Russia’s new deadly strikes on the city of Kherson, a delegation of the Ukrainian leadership, including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, visited Paris for a conference to which about 700 French companies were invited.

The aim of this event, which takes place immediately after an international conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which raised over a billion euros, is clear: to allow “any French SME or ETI (medium-sized enterprise, no) to know about the projects and to be able to contribute and take participation in auctions,” the Elysee Court reported on Friday.

The list of invited groups varies from CAC40 giants such as Alstom, Engie or TotalEnergies to smaller companies in the fields of architecture, asbestos removal, telephony, IT… with a particular focus on energy, healthcare, agri-food, digital and infrastructure . .

The driving force behind Ukraine’s recovery is Ukraine, according to which “war does not mean that investment is prohibited,” said Trade Minister Yulia Svyridenko.

Private investment will be “one of the engines of reconstruction,” she said in an interview with AFP. Business leaders begin to evaluate projects at an earlier stage, which should now begin with audits and research.

The French government is not trying to use the reconstruction to advance its pawns in the big market that will open after the war: “This mobilization is demanded by the Ukrainian government and President Zelensky,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday. during the press conference.

The needs are immense in a country where in September the World Bank estimated the cost of the war since it began at $350 billion.

That amount will be largely revised upwards in a new assessment expected in early 2023, Europe chief Anna Bjerde said.

“The public sector cannot cope with this alone, the private sector will be absolutely vital,” Bjerde added.