Invest in Ukraine
06 February 2024 15:33
Ukraine Investment Guide was presented at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin.
The Guide offers a comprehensive overview of Ukraine's economic policy and investment opportunities, detailing 95 projects requiring approximately $27 billion in financing. This guide is the result of collaborative efforts with KPMG, EY, Deloitte, BDO, and the Tony Blair Institute.
The Guide and the assembled investment projects are the results of work in sectoral groups with businesses, organized with the information and analytical support of the Kyiv School of Economics. Since July 2023, more than 1,100 projects have been assembled, with varying degrees of readiness and level of elaboration.
With global trends like decarbonization and energy needs, Ukraine is ripe for opportunity. The Government supports investors with guarantees, war risk insurance, and state programs. New co-financing mechanisms with IFIs and DFIs will further support private investment.
Key highlights of the Investment Guide include:
Investment Projects: The guide outlines 95 projects in priority sectors such as energy, infrastructure, agri-food, green steel, pharmaceuticals, critical materials, and IT.
Strategic Opportunities: Investing in Ukraine now provides strategic advantages with significant returns in the medium to long term.
Sectoral Development: Emphasis on developing priority sectors and the processing industry to resolve export logistics issues and enhance high-value-added industries.
Market Potential: With global trends like decarbonization and significant energy needs, Ukraine offers ample investment opportunities.
Explore the full Ukraine Investment Guide and discover investment opportunities here: https://t.ly/8M7r6
UkraineInvest Guide is set to become the main source of information about Ukraine to potential investors. It contains information about Ukraine’s potential and analytical data from various industries, and it also promotes the stories of foreign companies that are already successfully operating in our country.
The Guide consists of nearly 100 pages of analytical information aimed at informing foreign investors about the country’s resource potential, investment projects and changes in regulatory policy. UkraineInvest Guide is a one-stop-shop reference to consider investment opportunities in Ukraine.
Law of Ukraine on State Support for Investment Projects with Significant Investments entered into force on 13 February 2021.
According to this law Ukraine will provide a number of incentives for large investment projects, in particular:
- tax incentives (exemption from the income tax, from customs duties and VAT when importing new equipment into Ukraine);
- simplified provision of land necessary for investment project;
- construction&reconstruction of related infrastructure at the expense of the state;
- consolidation of investor guarantees through the conclusion of a direct agreement with the Government of Ukraine for 15 years.
The total amount of state support shall not exceed 30% of the amount of investment in the project.
State support will be provided for investors who are going to invest more than 20 million euros as well as to create at least 80 new workplaces.
The project implementation period should not exceed 5 years in such sectors of economy:
- processing industry (except for the production and circulation of tobacco products, alcohol, and alcoholic beverages);
- extraction for further processing and / or enrichment of minerals (except coal, crude oil and natural gas);
- waste management;
- transport, warehousing, postal and courier activities, logistics;
- education and science;
- health care, art, culture, sports, tourism, resort and recreational industry.
This bill was developed on the basis of best practices existing in the EU and our neighbouring countries.
What is privatization
Privatization is the paid alienation of state-owned property in favor of individuals or legal entities.
All privatization objects are divided into small-scale and large-scale privatization objects. Objects of small-scale privatization include not only state-owned enterprises and stakes but also objects of unfinished construction and socio-cultural purposes, separate movable and immovable property, the value of which does not exceed UAH 250 million. If the cost of the object is higher than UAH 250 million – these are large-scale privatization objects, to which only state-owned enterprises and share packages can apply. Usually, such objects require more time for pre-privatization preparation, attraction of potential buyers and their familiarization with information about the enterprise.
All objects are sold exclusively through government’s electronic trading system ProZorro.Sale, which is built on the principles of full transparency – the entire sale process takes place publicly and openly to avoid corruption. For entrepreneurs and companies, this is a good opportunity to buy something interesting for the development of their business and their community. For the country, this is economic recovery and development of the state.
Potential buyers can also initiate the inclusion of objects in the list of privatization – by submitting an application for the inclusion of a state-owned object in the list of objects subject to privatization. More details here.
What is the state of state-owned enterprises in Ukraine
At the beginning of 2021, there were 3,343 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Ukraine. Only 943 of them are profitable, and 511 are unprofitable. 1,885 state-owned enterprises do not work at all, of which 585 are located in the temporarily occupied Crimea and the zone of operations of the United Forces (Donbass region). A significant part of these enterprises should be declared bankrupt and liquidated long ago. The majority should be transferred to privatization and new efficient owners should be found for them at open and transparent auctions.
The number of SOEs in different countries of the world is extremely insignificant: Poland – 55, Lithuania – 91, Sweden – 46, Canada – 50, Australia – 9.
What are the main goals of privatization
- To fight against corruption, which is common in SOE and when managing the state property.
- To attract direct investments and strategic investors, both from Ukraine and from other countries.
- To сreatе effective prerequisites for reconstruction and economic recovery of the state.
- To attract additional revenues to the budget both from sales and, subsequently, from tax revenues from new businesses.
- To improve the performance of enterprises or the quality of property use through an effective owner search.
- To modernize production or re-profile facilities and to create of new jobs.
What will not be privatized
- Enterprises that ensure the security of the state.
- Enterprises that are natural monopolies.
- Enterprises that are important to society or whose services/goods cannot be performed by private businesses.
The main legislature on privatization in Ukraine:
Law of Ukraine “On privatization of state and communal property”
Official website: https://privatization.gov.ua/en/