Australian businessman to invest $500 million in Ukraine Development Fund

Andrew Forrest, the second-richest Australian, announced on June 21 that he would be seeding the Ukraine Development Fund with $500 million and called on other investors to follow suit.

Forrest was speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

Ukraine is a "superb long-term investment", Forrest noted, emphasizing that the idea of the fund is to serve as a hair-trigger than can mobilize a Marshall Plan-style stimulus for Ukraine's economy.

The fund is currently being set up, with asset management giant BlackRock as an advisor, and is expected to launch within 6 to 9 months, according to Ukraine's Deputy Economy Minister Oleksandr Hryban.