Johan Forssell visited Kyiv with a large business delegation

 The first-ever Swedish minister-led business delegation visited Ukraine this week. The delegation was headed by Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell. In Kyiv, the delegation met with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and held roundtable discussions with a tailored line-up of Ukrainian ministers, including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. The new Swedish trade office was also inaugurated.

“Supporting Ukraine is one of the Moderate Party-led Government’s top foreign policy priorities. Military and civil support are important of course, but I’m convinced that the business sector and our financial support are crucial to Ukraine’s long-term resilience and development,” says Mr Forssell.

On Monday 23 June, Mr Forssell visited Kyiv together with the first Swedish minister-led business delegation since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Representatives from Saab, Ericsson, Volvo Group, Scania, Elekta, Beetroot, Beredskapslyftet, Swedfund and Business Sweden also attended.

During the two-day visit, the delegation met with Mr Shmyhal and several Ukrainian ministers for a roundtable discussion on how to reinforce industrial cooperation between Sweden and Ukraine. They also met with representatives of the European Investment Bank and ProZorro and visited the Kyiv School of Economics.

On Tuesday, the Swedish delegation headed by Mr Forssell was received by Mr Zelenskyy. The meeting concerned supporting the energy sector and opportunities for Swedish businesses to invest in Ukraine. The delegation then travelled on to visit Beredskapslyftet and Scania. Beredskapslyftet helps train Ukrainian women to become lorry drivers and is a concrete example of the way in which the business sector and the State can work together to support Ukraine’s resilience.

In connection with the visit, Mr Forssell also inaugurated the new Swedish trade office in Kyiv. The trade office helps more Swedish businesses enter the Ukrainian market and is an important part of Sweden’s support to Ukraine. Swedfund is also establishing a local office in Ukraine to create opportunities to further promote job creation and investments in Ukraine.

“I’m proud to inaugurate the new Swedish trade office in Kyiv. It will open doors for more Swedish businesses hoping to establish themselves on the Ukrainian market. In doing this, we will demonstrate that Swedish support is not abstract but concrete,” says Mr Forssell.

Cassien Tribunal Aungange, Editor