The French and Ukrainian presidents will participate in the signing ceremony of two agreements on Friday, June 7, with 650 million euros in loans and donations to Ukraine to support in particular the critical energy infrastructures targeted by Russia, the Élysée announced on Wednesday.
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Funds for the French Development Agency
Emmanuel Macron will meet on Friday, ” late afternoon “at the Élysée, with his colleague Volodymyr Zelensky and will hold a press conference, it was added.
The first agreement was to make it possible to supply the French Development Agency (AFD). “expected funds of 400 million euros in loans and 50 million in donations until 2027” to “to expand its activities in Ukraine”.
This will allow AFD to “deploy his entire range of instruments […] to intervene in support of Ukrainian local authorities in coordination and complementarity with donors already present in Ukraine”, Élysée explained.
The priority areas of action will be the energy and transport sectors with support “development of administrative capacity”.
A “support fund” for critical infrastructure
The second agreement will concern the establishment of a “support fund” for critical infrastructures, endowed with 200 million euros “to support French companies in future tenders […] in the areas of energy, transport, water and sanitation, health and agriculture.
“These funds will be used to finance important projects, to strengthen or replace failing energy infrastructures”, because they are particularly targeted by Moscow, it was stressed.
When asked about the holding of Emmanuel Macron’s press conference on Friday, two days before the vote for the elections to the European Parliament, the Élysée did not want to react, while the president has already been criticized by the opposition for his intervention on Thursday night, from Normandy, at 20:00 television news on TF1 and France 2.
Before the bilateral with Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée, President Zelensky will address French deputies in the National Assembly and is expected to meet French industrialists.
