On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and a delegation of U.S. government officials and company executives arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine, to meet with Ukrainian business and government leaders, including President Poroshenko.

While the Secretary’s events on Thursday focuses on the commemoration of the 75^th anniversary of Babyn Yar, a Nazi-perpetrated massacre during the Holocaust, Wednesday’s events focused on affirming the strong relationship between the United States and Ukraine, and promoting economic cooperation between the two countries.  This is Secretary Pritzker’s third trip to Ukraine, underscoring the nation’s importance to U.S. leaders and the nation’s potential in the eyes of the business community.

Alongside President Petro Poroshenko, Secretary Pritzker announced the conclusion of a $1 billion loan guarantee designed to promote progress on the country’s anti-corruption and economic reform agenda. This will be the third U.S. loan guarantee for Ukraine after two $1 billion loan guarantees in May 2014 and May 2015. Issuance of this loan guarantee demonstrates Ukraine’s commitment to the implementation of critical economic and anti-corruption reforms and will help Ukraine accelerate and deepen these efforts.

Secretary Pritzker also delivered remarks at the Commercial Law Development Program’s Ukraine Government Ethics, Transparency, and Corporate Compliance Workshop. She spoke about the U.S. government's commitment to helping tackle anti-corruption, government ethics, and transparency issues. A division of the Department of Commerce, CLDP helps achieve U.S. foreign policy goals in developing and post-conflict countries through commercial legal reforms.

Afterward, Secretary Pritzker and the business delegation met with prominent Members of the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament. Secretary Pritzker moderated a discussion among the participants focused on the reforms Ukraine can undertake to strengthen the business environment. The executives at the meeting also provided their insights into how Ukraine can retain and attract private capital to boost growth.

Secretary Pritzker and the business leaders also met with Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on Wednesday. Today, the two leaders issued a joint statement regarding their discussions to accelerate economic reform, build a better business climate for all companies, and increase U.S.-Ukrainian bilateral trade and investment.