American corporation BlackRock Inc. halted its search for investors for the multibillion-dollar Ukraine Recovery Fund at the beginning of 2025, following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to Bloomberg.
According to sources, the fund was initially scheduled to be unveiled at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on July 10–11. The event was expected to feature speeches by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Preliminary support for the fund had already been secured from government-backed financial institutions in Germany, Italy, and Poland.
However, back in January, BlackRock suspended talks with institutional investors due to a lack of interest from the private sector and increasing uncertainty surrounding Ukraine’s future.
Last year, the company’s Vice Chairman Philipp Hildebrand stated that the fund aimed to raise at least $500 million from governments, development banks, and donors, along with $2 billion from private investors. According to estimates by the World Bank and other international institutions, the overall cost of rebuilding Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion may exceed $500 billion.
The company confirmed that its pro bono advisory work related to the Ukraine Recovery Fund ended in 2024. At present, BlackRock holds no active mandates with the Ukrainian government.
Meanwhile, an alternative initiative is being developed in France to replace the canceled BlackRock fund. Nonetheless, sources say that without support from the United States, the effectiveness of the new plan remains highly uncertain.
Earlier we wrote that Ukraine begins talks with China to restructure $1.5 billion loan.
