OREANDA-NEWS. September 05, 2014. In a series of interviews this morning with BBC Television and Radio, the EBRD’s Ukrainian Director Sevki Acuner spoke of the inherent strengths of Ukraine’s economy despite the problems caused by the current conflict.

Ahead of a conference in London “Invest in Ukraine”, Mr Acuner said the EBRD remained strongly engaged in Ukraine, and aimed to invest around EUR1 billion in the country this year.

He believed international investors were being given clear messages by the Ukrainian authorities who were strictly committed to implementing economic reforms programmes agreed with the International Monetary Fund and who had made a clear and irrevocable choice to be part of the Western world and economy.

Mr Acuner noted that the challenges to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and subsequent developments were sapping the country’s resources and the international community needed to step up again to support Ukraine.

Even so, Ukraine’s underlying economic strength, its agriculture and its natural and human resources as well as its engineering and IT knowhow meant it continued to be an interesting destination for international investors.