Following the 'Carpathian Eight' (C8) format summit held in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that more than 50 investment deals with a total volume of over one billion euro have been prepared for signing. According to the head of state, for the first time in history the Carpathian macroregion is presenting itself as a single market with a single investment portfolio, which, in his assessment, is 'only the beginning' of large-scale economic integration of the region's countries.
Investment portfolio and energy focus
About half of the entire investment portfolio presented at the summit falls to the energy sector. Among the key areas are solar and wind power generation, energy storage systems, the construction of new interconnectors, and the use of powerful Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities. Separately, Zelensky proposed creating a Carpathian wind energy cluster with a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts, which should turn the region into a full-fledged electricity supplier, not just a transit hub.
EU energy independence as a strategic goal
'The Carpathians can become an energy supplier for the European Union, not just a transit region. And this directly supports the European goal of energy independence from Russia,' Zelensky emphasized. Thus, the initiative is positioned not only as a regional economic project but also as a tool for implementing the EU's broader strategy of diversifying energy sources and reducing dependence on Russian gas.
The 'Carpathian Eight' format: goals and participants
The summit became the first platform of a new cooperation format — the 'Carpathian Eight,' the initiative to create which was announced by Zelensky on the same day. The format is designed to strengthen cooperation among the countries of the Carpathian region in three key areas: security, energy, and economy. Representatives of the regions and communities of neighboring states took part in the summit. According to the president, the new mechanism should help bring the region's states closer together and serve as an additional platform for jointly addressing current issues that go beyond bilateral contacts.
Context: Fico's visit cancellation and international resonance
According to RBC-Ukraine, citing sources, a visit by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was planned for the summit, but his trip was canceled at the last minute. No official comment on the reasons for the cancellation had been received at the time of publication. Nevertheless, the very fact of preparing and presenting the investment portfolio at the summit is confirmed by a direct statement from the President of Ukraine, which gives the announced figures the status of an official position of Kyiv.
