This week and 2019, in general, are off to a particularly good start for the Norwegian-Ukrainian collaboration. Over 350 businessmen and leaders, as well as scholars and social activists from both Norway and Ukraine, gathered together at the Norwegian-Ukrainian Business Forum 2019 in Oslo. This event became a platform for discussion of political reforms and the business climate in Ukraine, as well as the economic situation and investment opportunities for Norwegian investors. NUBF 2019 was organized by the Norwegian-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (NUCC) with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway and in partnership with UkraineInvest, Oslo Metropolitan University, and the Embassy of Ukraine in Norway.

The Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, opened the conference by congratulating Ukraine on making successful reforms and urged politicians to continue structural reforms in the legal, political, and economic spheres to attract more investment. Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman reassured his Norwegian colleagues in his commitment to improving the business environment in Ukraine. Afterwards, both prime ministers signed the Joint Statement on Strengthened Norwegian-Ukrainian Energy Cooperation.

Besides the Joint Statement, five other agreements were signed:

• Norwegian company Scatec Solar signed a purchase agreement with the Ukrainian company SM Invest & Construction for a 150 MW-capacity solar plant in Mykolaiv Oblast worth 180 million euros.
• Norwegian renewable energy company NBT signed an agreement with Unit Venture Investment Fund develop a 742 MW wind power plant in southern Ukraine’s Yakymovskij. The project will cost 1 billion euros.
• Norsk Solar and a Ukrainian company Pro-Energy signed an agreement to jointly build, own and operate a solar power plant with capacity is 9.2 MW in Kyiv Oblast with an expected investment of 9.2 million euros.
• Norwegian genetics company Geno Global working with the export of Norwegian Red Genetics signed an agreement with the Ukrainian Cattle Breeding Association for bilateral cooperation in the development of programs of academic and scholarly exchanges between Ukraine and Norway in animal breeding and genetics.
• Norwegian ICT start-up AISpot signed a strategic partnership agreement and innovation contract with Atoll Holding to create smart innovative mobility solutions for the future based on AI/Machine learning and big data analytics.

We would like to thank everyone for their input and contribution to strengthening Norwegian-Ukrainian cooperation. The Business Forum wouldn’t be this successful without such an engaged audience, professional hosting team, dedicated speakers, supporting partners and hardworking volunteers!