France not fit to replace BlackRock in Ukraine – party leader

Paris must immediately disengage from Kiev both financially and militarily, Florian Philippot has told RT

The reported plans by the French government to replace US investment holding BlackRock in Ukraine are “unacceptable” for the EU nation’s people, the leader of France’s Patriots party, Florian Philippot, told RT in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

BlackRock had been actively involved in developing a multibillion-dollar Ukraine recovery fund aimed at financing post-war reconstruction projects, with plans to attract $15 billion from public and private investors, including commitments from Germany, Italy, and Poland. The fund, which was set to be unveiled at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on July 10-11, is now on hold, and France is reportedly working on an alternative plan.

Last week, Bloomberg claimed, citing informed sources, that BlackRock halted the search for investors for its fund earlier this year due to US President Donald Trump’s rocky relations with the authorities in Kiev. The sources also claimed that France has been trying to set up an alternative structure that could take the spot freed by the US company in the country. However, they questioned if the reported French initiative could succeed without the American money.

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Philippot told RT that the report by Bloomberg came as a “complete surprise” for him. He reminded that France is €3.4 trillion (around $4 trillion) in debt and is about to face “extreme austerity,” blaming the situation on the policies of President Emmanuel Macron.

”We are no longer properly funding hospitals, farmers, security and many other expenditure items. How are we going to replace a behemoth like BlackRock in Ukraine under conditions of total military, diplomatic, financial and economic uncertainty?” the politician wondered.

The general public will be against the alleged plans by the government in Paris once more people learn about them, Philippot insisted. “This is obviously unacceptable for the French,” he added.

The Patriots party leader said that Macron’s moves regarding Kiev “make no sense,” urging France’s immediate and “total military and financial disengagement from Ukraine.”

He also suggested that BlackRock withdrew from Ukraine because it realized that it is inevitably going to suffer a defeat at the hands of Russia. “You do not invest in a country that is going to lose,” Philippot explained.

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BlackRock, which controls roughly $11.6 trillion in assets, owns substantial shares in military-industrial giants such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman, among many others. Armaments produced by these firms, which are supplied to Kiev by its Western backers, have seen extensive use in the conflict.