Billionaire launches $25bn fund for Ukraine reconstruction
Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest has launched an investment fund that is hoped will be worth at least $25bn to help rebuild war-torn Ukraine.
Mr Forrest and his wife have committed $500m to the fund, which its organisers say could eventually grow to $100bn.
The Ukraine Green Growth Initiative plans to invest in primary infrastructures such as energy and telecoms networks.
President Zelensky has welcomed the move.
“We will take advantage of the fact that what the Russians have destroyed can readily be replaced with the latest, most modern green and digital infrastructure,” Mr Zelensky said.
The fund is hoping to gain the support of sovereign wealth funds and other professional investors.
Mr Forrest started working on the investment fund in March and has since spoken to several world leaders – including Joe Biden, then-PM Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“The president [Zelensky] sees that as an opportunity to completely replace old coal-fired [and] nuclear power stations with brand new green energy,” Mr Forrest told the BBC.
“That capital would be available the instant that the Russian forces have been removed from the homelands of Ukraine,” he added.
The Aussie billionaire made his money from the Australian mining boom. He has turned his attention to sustainable technology with initiatives to decarbonise his mining operations.
