French companies seek role in Ukraine's reconstruction

A conference in Paris on Tuesday brought together 700 French companies that could play a role in Ukraine's reconstruction process.

The meeting was the second session on a day dedicated to the Ukraine war, roughly 10 months after Russia's invasion of the country.

In the morning, delegations from 46 countries and numerous international organizations met at the foreign ministry pledging €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in subsidies and materials to get the war-torn country through the winter. The heads of state underlined that the aid was particularly needed since Russia started targeting civilian infrastructure such as the electricity grid a few weeks back.

The theme of the afternoon was resilience and reconstruction.

"Whenever a territory is reconquered, reconstruction needs to start immediately," French President Emmanuel Macron said at the economy ministry, addressing entrepreneurs and a Ukrainian delegation that included Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and President Volodymyr Zelensky via videolink.

"Ukraine's economy must stay solid, as it will be the backbone of the rebuilding process," he added.

Plans to 'Build Back Better'

The Elysee Palace had told the press in the run-up to the conference that the idea was to "Build Back Better" Ukraine — for example in areas of technology and green economy.

During the meeting, the entrepreneurs started laying out roadmaps in areas of energy, agriculture, water supply, IT, and health. The French and the Ukrainian sides closed deals worth €100 million for the supply of rails, mobile bridges and seeds.

Both countries also set up a Franco-Ukrainian startup fund with an initial cash injection of €100 million.

That's very good news for Dominique Piotet, head of La French Tech Kyiv, an association of 30 startups.

"Ukraine's technology sector offers extraordinary investment opportunities and the country is at only three flight hours from Paris," he told DW.

"But up until now, France hadn't grasped that — only a few percentage points of the money invested in the technology sector is French, 90% of it comes from the US," he added.

Ukraine conference a watershed moment

Sebastien Garnault says Tuesday's meeting was a watershed moment. He's the head of Rennes-based private sector initiative Cybertaskforce, which includes 50 companies active in the digital sector.

"This conference is an appeal to civil society and companies to get involved in Ukraine — up until now, the government never said that this clearly," he told DW while having a cup of coffee in the economy ministry's lobby.

Garnault is now planning to travel to Kyiv early next year.

"We are determined to stand by this country that's being aggressed by another — we can, for example, provide digital trainings and assist in the area of cybersecurity," he added.

France is only Ukraine's fourth biggest importer amongst EU countries, according to 2019 French government figures.

France is biggest foreign employer in Ukraine

And yet, Bertrand Barrier says there are reasons to believe French companies will play an important role in the reconstruction process.

He's the head of the Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, which represents 160 French companies doing business in Ukraine.

"French companies are Ukraine's biggest foreign employer with a total of 30,000 employees. And most of the companies have continued to operate since the start of the war," he told DW.

French businesses are especially active in Ukraine's agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors.

Amongst those continuing their activities in the country are cosmetics firms L'Occitane and Caudalie and hair care company Rene Furterer.

Tetiana Chevrolet, head of Kyiv-based Global Distribution, distributes these brands in Ukraine.

"Our country's economy continues to function despite the war and we are very glad conferences like the one in Paris are taking place — that shows us that people haven't forgotten about us," she told DW.

Some of her 70 employees are still working from abroad, based in Poland or Italy, where they moved to after the start of the war.

Chevrolet herself had to temporarily leave her home in Bucha, a Kyiv suburb where Russian soldiers are accused of having brutally killed hundreds of civilians. While her family has now returned home, she is splitting her time between Kyiv and Bulgaria's capital Sofia where she is renting an office space.

"We are making do with the means at our disposal. Especially with the renewed blackouts since October due to Russia's targeted attacks, we are falling back on diesel generators and flashlights to keep going," Tetiana said.

Nevertheless, most of her near dozen stores have remained open.

"We are ready to fully scale up our operations as soon as the war ends," she said.

Taking center stage during reconstruction phase

But, Philippe Crevel, economist and head of Paris-based think tank Cercle de l'Epargne, says French companies might not end up being the biggest players in the rebuilding process.

"Companies from all around the world are in a race to contribute to Ukraine's reconstruction effort and the Americans are likely to get the largest share — also, as the country strongly supported Ukraine politically and militarily since the start of the war," he told DW.

However, he added that it of course still made sense for France to take part in that race.

Edited by: Ashutosh Pandey