Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest launched an investment fund for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. He wants to raise $20 billion

Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest launched an investment fund to raise money for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. His goal is to get $20 billion.

The BBC writes about it.

Forrestʼs family allocated $500 million to this fund. According to the organizers, they can accumulate up to $100 billion.

Among the main goals of investments are energy and telecommunication networks to facilitate Ukraineʼs transition to renewable energy.

The fund said it is working with the head of investment giant BlackRock, Larry Fink, and hopes to get support from public investment funds and other professional investors.

After launching the investment fund in early March, Forrest said he discussed the plan with a number of world leaders, including the U.S. President Joe Biden, then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"The president [Zelensky] sees this as an opportunity to completely replace old coal and nuclear power plants with completely new green energy," Forrest noted.

He emphasized that this money will become available to Ukraine when Russian troops completely leave its territory.

Andrew Forrest made his fortune in the booming mining industry in Australia. He is the founder and chief executive of iron ore giant Fortescue Metals. In 2022, he was the second richest person in Australia with a fortune of over $27 billion. In recent years, it has turned its attention to sustainable technologies, initiatives to decarbonize its mining operations and wants to become a major producer of green hydrogen.