Call for Expressions of Interest from EU/EEA and Ukrainian businesses to invest in Ukraine

1. Purpose of the Call

To support the implementation of the Ukraine Investment Framework (UIF), the optimal use of the available funds for priority projects and the participation of Ukrainian and EU/EEA companies, the European Commission is launching a second Call for Expressions of Interest from Ukrainian and EU/EEA businesses to invest in Ukraine in line with EU strategic areas of interest and policy priorities.

The objective of this Call for Expressions of Interest is to enter into dialogue with companies on concrete investment opportunities and related constraints in Ukraine. Based on assessment criteria, subsequent contact with partner Financial Institutions may be facilitated for potential financial cooperation. This dialogue is aimed at building a pipeline of transformative private investments in Ukraine.

This Call invites Ukrainian and EU/EEA companies to submit project proposals for new investments into Ukraine’s real economy. Participation in this Call does not constitute any form of partnership, joint venture, or other legal relationship between the Participant and the European Commission. It does not constitute any guarantee of financial support neither from the European Commission nor any partner Financial Institutions. The publication of this Call for Expressions of Interest also does not commit the EU to finance the investment proposal.

All project proposals presented to the European Commission will be assessed based on the criteria outlined in this Call and will be treated equally, ensuring a fair and transparent assessment process. All information submitted as part of the project proposal will be treated confidentially and used solely for the purpose of evaluating the proposals in accordance with the criteria specified in this Call.

The priority areas of the Call will be based on the Ukraine Plan and Strategic Orientations of the UIF, outlining key real economy sectors requiring Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) including:

• Energy: Develop distributed sustainable energy solutions, including renewable energy projects and modernisation of existing energy infrastructure.
• Critical Raw Materials: Invest in processing key minerals and resources needed for high-tech industries and renewable energy technologies.
• Processing industry and manufacturing: Revitalise and modernise manufacturing sector to boost industrial output and competitiveness.
• Construction materials: Support reconstruction and invest in construction material industry, design bureau, construction companies, supervisors.
• Information technology and digital transformation: Strengthen digital infrastructure and technology to foster innovation and cross-sector efficiency.
• Transport and export logistics: Rebuild and modernise transport, logistics.

Eligibility criteria

To ensure a structured and transparent assessment, the following criteria will be used for evaluating the eligibility of project proposals:

• Geographic Area: Ukraine, investment taking place on the territory of Ukraine.
• Private Sector: Eligible Participants to the Call shall be Ukrainian or EU private enterprises, joint venture or consortium of companies. EU/EEA companies must indicate a valid VAT registration number. Ukrainian companies must indicate a valid entity registration number (ЄДРПОУ). All participating companies must indicate their EU Transparency registration number. Entities listed in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) data base are excluded from this Call for Expressions of Interest.
• Nationality of Private Entity: Ukrainian or EU/EEA businesses are understood under this call as companies possessing their real legal seat / legal incorporation in one of the EU Member States or European Economic Area countries, or Ukraine. For the avoidance of doubt, ‘real legal seat’ must be understood as the place where its managing board and central administration, or its principal place of business, are located.
• Alignment with Policy Priorities: Projects should focus on Ukraine's real economy sectors and specifically identified for this Call, meaning construction materials, energy, critical raw materials, processing industry and manufacturing, digital and transport, in line with the Ukraine Plan and UIF Strategic Orientations.
• Minimum Investment Size: Projects must meet a specified minimum investment threshold, including a total size of the investment project at EUR 50 million and an own equity participation by the project promoter at 10% of the total value of the investment project.¹

Assessment criteria

The following strategic, impact and financial criteria will be used to assess the project investment proposal:

Strategic Criteria

• Alignment with EU policy objectives and priority areas for investments in Ukraine contributing to reconstruction and recovery.
• Ownership of the company in view to support EU open strategic autonomy.
• Contribution of the proposal in supporting EU strategic autonomy.
• Compliance with EU standards and adherence to the Do No Significant Harm Principle.

Impact Criteria

• Impact of the project proposal on supporting EU strategic interests, including socio- economic development and green transition, taking into account risk assessment and mitigation measures.
• Replicability and scalability of the project proposal.
• Innovative features of the project proposal.
• Capacity of the Participant to mobilise private capital to finance the proposed investment (relevant experience in the specified sector, and particularly in Ukraine, will be regarded as an advantage).
• Market assessment and how the project proposal addresses market failures.

Financial Criteria

• Financial viability, including financial needs and investment plans reflecting the scale and scope of the project.
• Maturity of the proposal.
• Investment capacity: Participants must demonstrate that they can finance through equity at least 10% of the total cost of the project.

2. Submission of Projects

Interested companies are invited to submit their project proposals through the designated EU expressions of interest form through the EU Survey link below.  Companies are permitted to submit a single project proposal.

Each proposal should include the following elements:

• For EU companies: VAT
• For Ukrainian companies:  EDRPOU Code (ЄДРПОУ)
• All companies are requested to provide: EU Transparency Register number
• The filled template project fiche to be uploaded in the EU Survey, with the main information of the investment project. Number of pages cannot exceed 4.  
• The filled template presenting the governance and detailing the ownership structure of the company, indicating the nationality of shareholders holding more than 10% (and of its consortium members, if any).
• The signed Declaration on honour on exclusion criteria and selection criteria enclosed in the EU Survey.

Only the provided template will be accepted. No additional documents will be considered. All correspondence, and documents related to this Call exchanged between Participants and DG ENEST must be written in English. Information provided by the Participants may be in another official language of the EU and Ukrainian, in which case accompanied with a legally valid translation into English following the same templates. Information provided in another language without translation to English will not be considered.