The countries of the Carpathian region have united their investment projects into a single business offering for the first time: within the framework of the Carpathian Integration Initiative, more than 50 agreements worth over €1 billion in total have already been prepared for signing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this on September 18 during an international economic forum, UNN reports.
According to the head of state, the countries of the Carpathian macroregion have formed a joint portfolio of investment projects. Overall, around 100 business projects with a total value of almost €40 billion are presented as part of the initiative’s economic component.
For the first time, the Carpathian macroregion is presenting itself as a single market with a single investment portfolio. Also today, more than 50 agreements worth over €1 billion have been prepared for signing. And this is only the beginning
The Office of the President noted that around 550 business representatives are taking part in the economic component of the summit. The investment and trade agreements concern, in particular, energy, logistics, infrastructure, and cross-sectoral projects. According to the head of state, energy projects account for around half of the joint investment portfolio. These include the development of solar and wind generation, electricity storage systems, new interconnectors, as well as the use of Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities.
Zelenskyy also proposed creating a Carpathian wind energy cluster with a total capacity of 1.5 GW.
The Carpathians can become an energy supplier for the European Union, rather than merely a transit region. And this directly supports the European goal of energy independence from Russia
Energy has become one of the key areas of the new Carpathian Integration Initiative. In the summit declaration, the countries also identified the development of electricity, heat, and gas infrastructure, renewable energy, distributed generation, energy storage systems, and cross-border networks among the areas of cooperation.
Context
On September 18, the first summit of the Carpathian Integration Initiative took place in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The new cooperation format is intended to unite Ukraine, Austria, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. The summit was attended, among others, by Romanian President Nicușor Dan, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and representatives of Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. According to Kyiv’s vision, the format is intended to strengthen cooperation among the countries of the Carpathian region in the areas of energy, logistics, cross-border trade, the economy, and community development.
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