BlackRock Halted Ukraine Fund Talks After Trump’s Election Win

BlackRock Inc. halted its search for investors to back a multibillion-dollar Ukraine recovery fund earlier this year after Donald Trump’s election victory saw the US sour on the eastern European country, people familiar with the discussions said.

The fund, meant to be unveiled at next week’s Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, was close to securing initial support from entities backed by the governments of Germany, Italy and Poland, the people said, declining to be identified discussing private information.

However, in January, BlackRock decided to pause talks with institutional investors due to a lack of interest amid increased uncertainty over Ukraine’s future.

Donald Trump ran his reelection campaign on a promise to immediately end the war in Ukraine and bring the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin together for peace talks.

The Ukraine Development Fund was on track to secure at least $500 million from countries, development banks and other grant providers, along with $2 billion from private investors, Philipp Hildebrand, vice chairman of BlackRock who was among the financiers leading the discussions, said last year.

Source: Ukfinance.yahoo