Zelenskyy calls on Austrian businesses to stop operating in Russia and move to Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Austrian businesses to abandon cooperation with Russia as an aggressor country and start working with Ukraine instead, following the meeting with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen in Kyiv.
Source: European Pravda, citing Interfax-Ukraine
Details: At the joint press conference, Zelenskyy said that he and Van der Bellen discussed bilateral cooperation at the EU level and emphasised the need to introduce further sanctions against the Russian Federation.
"The terrorist state must feel the price of its terror and the real limitation of its ability to continue the war," the president said.
In this context, Zelenskyy also mentioned the Austrian businesses, which, as he states, do not leave Russia despite the Russian terror and continue to provide it with tax support.
"Therefore, we are very interested in this business moving to Ukraine. We want to discuss this issue at a systemic level. In particular, we stressed the situation regarding Raiffeisen Bank, which not only operates in Russia but also makes decisions, such as tax holidays for conscripts in the Russian army," said Zelenskyy, adding that "this is unacceptable in the current realities".
"We call on the Austrian side to make all possible efforts so that individual businesses do not screw Austrian society. I believe that this important issue, like many others, will be resolved on the basis of the common values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights," the Ukrainian president added.
Zelenskyy also called on all Austrian businessmen to increase the pace of cooperation with their Ukrainian colleagues, in particular in matters of restoration, energy and its modernisation.
Background: Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen came to Ukraine on 1 February. He visited Bucha and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, handed over generators, and announced the allocation of €5 million for the restoration of damaged energy infrastructure.
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