Alexander Weigelt,
partner at Nobles law firm, born in Dresden, Germany
“Promising sectors are energy efficiency, and high-quality construction. German companies have significant experience in upgrading production facilities in this area. The gas dispute with Russia and state-funds from Western countries will make this long-delayed topic a priority for the near future in Ukraine.”
“Tax authorities and their pressure on companies to make payments which are euphemistically referred to as voluntary but in fact are unfounded and bring disadvantages if companies refuse to make them. Fire protection authorities who approach lessees of business premises and find violations which either do not exist at all in reality or which are greatly exaggerated or are not in the powers of lessee to change.”
Sven Henniger,
director of Ukraine Consulting, born in Zehdenick, Germany
“Agriculture, energy – If I’m not mistaken Ukraine is one of the biggest energy consumers per capita. There are a lot of reasons for that: old industry, cheap gas prices for industry and consumers have almost no possibility to regulate temperatures at homes to keep costs low. The gas discussion with Russia creates a need in Ukraine for energy efficiency, as well as alternative energies.”
“Corruption. No rule of law. A very unstable environment. We all hear at the moment again that some places on political party lists for the upcoming parliamentary election are being sold.”
Julian Ries,
partner at Gide Loyrette Nouel, born in Hanover, Germany
“German companies in particular are invested in agriculture, construction materials and distribution facilities in Ukraine. Generally, these investments went well, but now they suffer from the difficult economic situation. Investments in the retail business were divested partially, while in the banking sector – almost completely.”
“The weakest point of doing business is the extremely weak rule of law…In addition, state regulation during the last couple of months, in particular currency regulation, has been unpredictable in the utmost, significantly deteriorating the business climate”
