The first of three international business forums to promote investment in Ukraine is taking place on April 15 in Prague.
Organized by the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, Lavrynovych and Partners law firm, and DCH Group, the event is titled “Ukraine: Just Business.”
The organizers said that the project is a communication platform between
Ukraine and the international community to demonstrate the nation’s investment
potential and business opportunities for potential foreign investors, according
to the group’s March 31 statement.
The other two forums will take place in Warsaw on
April 27, and Budapest on May 14.
A key idea for the forums is to sell Ukraine to
foreign investors, while getting crucial feedback from eastern European
economies that have successfully developed.
“It is no fluke that we chose the Czech Republic,
Poland and Hungary,” UCC’s president, Gennadiy
Chyzhykov, said. “These countries have gone through investment booms
during the last 15 years. They are thrilled with the idea of sharing their
experiences and investing in such countries as Ukraine.”
Chyzhykov believes Ukraine is
becoming more attractive for investors. If there is some economic and political
stability in the near term, change and improvement could happen quickly, he
says.
Among the most promising Ukrainian sectors for investment, he says, are engineering, agriculture, energy
efficiency, information technologies, and logistics.
A primary aim is to also play against
international preconceptions about Ukraine. Chyzhykov says that since
international media is more interested in war coverage, it is hard for
potential investors to understand that while 25 percent of Donbas, consisting
of easternmost Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, is under military occupation, the
rest of Ukraine lives in peace and can develop economically.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry is the project’s strategic partner. In the
past, according to experts, the ministry kept investment promotion on the back-burner,
but one that was theirs alone. “After trade-economic missions were liquidated
in 2011, the ministry’s monopoly on economic representation dwindled to
nothing,” says Maksym Lavrynovych,
managing partner of Lavrynovych and Partners.
The project partners said that the foreign ministry helped provide
support via Ukrainian embassies abroad and by allowing market players to join the
cause of fostering Ukraine’s economic development.
Kyiv Post legal affairs reporter Mariana Antonovych can be reached at [email protected].
