Ukraines Zelenskiy met JPMorgan bankers over rebuilding efforts

Ukraine's Zelenskiy met JPMorgan bankers over rebuilding efforts

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with bankers from JPMorgan Chase & Co last week to get their advice on rebuilding the country and weathering the financial impact of the war, according to a statement from the presidents office.

Officials from the country‘s economic ministry and executives from JPMorgan’s asset management and investment-banking arms signed a memorandum of understanding for the bank to advise on rebuilding, financial stabilization, sovereign credit ratings and economic ties to Europe.

“We are proud of our long-standing support of Ukraine and committed to doing our part to lift up the country and its people,” Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan, said in a statement. “The full resources of JPMorgan Chase are available to Ukraine as it charts its post-conflict path to growth.”

The bank also convened a virtual investment meeting attended by 200 corporations, investors and financial firms as Ukraine steps up efforts to lock in financial support from businesses to help rebuild the country.

Global ratings agency Moody‘s last week downgraded Ukraine’s sovereign rating to ‘Ca’ from ‘Caa3’, as it expects the war with Russia to create long-lasting challenges.

Staff from the International Monetary Fund will meet with Ukrainian officials in Warsaw this week, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters on Friday, as Ukraine presses for a multi-billion dollar borrowing program to cover its funding needs due to the war.

JPMorgan has helped the country raise about $25 billion in sovereign debt since 2010, and was the sole purchaser of $350 million of Ukrainian bonds in March 2019. The bank also led the nations debt restructuring of more than $20 billion in 2022.

(Reporting by Lananh Nguyen and Saeed Azhar, editing by Deepa Babington)