Kostiantyn Zhevago, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, said this on Espreso TV.
Recently, media reported that Japan has taken the first place in terms of financial assistance to Ukraine. The entrepreneur answered why this country:
"Because in fact, Japan is leading the entire civilized world today. Look, in the United States, it is impossible to approve funding for Ukraine because of the disagreements in the Congress, which are primarily due to the elections and the internal political problems in the US presidential election. In Europe, thanks to Orban, thanks to Fico, thanks to other radicals, we have two months' delay in funding.
Today, although we have, and this is very good, the decision of the European Commission of the European Parliament to provide Ukraine with EUR 50 billion of aid for 4 years, we need to go through committees, to accept the seizure of additional documents that will allow us to receive the money, because today we have not received a single penny, not a single euro, even though we are already finishing February, to the Ukrainian budget,” he said.
The businessman added that at this difficult moment, Japan came to Ukraine's aid. At the same time, it supported the United States and the EU, which have technical and political problems in this matter: "Japan is a very responsible country, and the Japanese government is very responsible. They make all decisions in advance, and if they sign something and if they commit themselves to something, they will fulfill it 100%.”
He emphasized that the Japanese are interested in Ukrainian raw materials and their processing, starting with agricultural and machine-building products and the metallurgical complex, including the so-called green steel, but for this Ukraine must have an appropriate investment credit rating, which we will receive after the war ends and we join the EU.
"If you look at the ratings of the so-called long-term contracts in the industry, business, in any industry, there are contracts with Japanese companies with high ratings everywhere. Japan itself has almost the highest credit rating, and it always takes into account and reckons with financial institutions, banks that provide financing, as the most secure and with the highest credit rating," Zhevago explained.
According to him, this is why the world is trying to have as many ties with Japan as possible. This develops both Japanese trade with any country in the world and the welfare of its own country.
"The more contracts, the more labor; the more labor, the more income; the more income, the more profit; the more profit, the more wealthy people and the more taxes that are paid, such as value added tax to the Japanese budget," the philanthropist summarized.
On February 10, Japanese Ambassador Matsuda Kuninori took part in a ceremony to hand over gabions designed to protect Ukraine's critical infrastructure.
Earlier, Japan donated facilities to Ukraine to protect critical infrastructure and allocated about $50 million to repair damaged housing.
On February 19, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announced that Japan would provide long-term support to Ukraine through the private sector
The same day, Japan received a Ukrainian delegation led by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. During the meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the allocation of $12.1 billion to Ukraine.
At the beginning of 2024, Japan took first place in terms of financial assistance to Ukraine. According to the Ministry of Finance, the amount of aid could reach about $2.2 billion during the first quarter.
*Kostyantyn Zhevago is a relative of the ultimate beneficial owner of the Espreso TV channel