17th Kyiv Post CEO Breakfast takes place after 17-month pause - Aug. 04, 2020

One thing led to another and it turned out that the Kyiv Post CEO Breakfast series took place on Aug. 4, 2020, for the first time since March 26, 2019. The topic was open-ended: How will current events affect investment in Ukraine?

Everything from rule of law to tax administration and COVID-19 was discussed, as well as the government’s long-range plans for boosting growth to the publicly declared goal of 7% annually, far higher than the rate of growth in many years. To do that, there was a general consensus that Ukraine still has some ways to go to shed its Soviet-era ways, including reining in attempts by law enforcement to pressure business, lengthy and costly litigation in unreliable courts and a long-discussed idea of creating a new law enforcement agency to investigate big economic crimes.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has sent economies around the world into recession, and Ukraine is no exception. Some estimates show the economy contracting by 6% in 2020.

The event was held in partnership with DLA Piper, a global law firm with locations in more than 40 nations. Government and business leaders, as well as the Canadian ambassador to Ukraine, took part in the 90-minute discussion at the InterContinental Kyiv.

The conversation took place against the backdrop of successes, failures, and controversies in Ukraine. The successes include the recent sale of two high-profile, state-owned properties — the Dnipro Hotel in Kyiv and Chornomorets Stadium in Odesa — to private investors. The failures include attacks on anti-corruption reformers, crimes that law enforcement has a dismal record in solving. And the controversies include the abrupt resignation of National Bank of Ukraine governor Yakiv Smolii because of political pressure — allegations denied by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration.

The government set out a strategy of attracting investors through so-called “investment nannies” — essentially government minders to help new and large-scale investors navigate Ukraine’s bureaucracy and award them tax breaks. The legislation, after raised by President Volodymyr Zelensky in January at Ukraine House Davos, is still working its way through the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament.

Participants included:

Ihor Petrashko, minister of economic development, trade and agriculture of Ukraine;

Alla Kozachenko, partner, DLA Piper;

Illya Sverdlov, partner, DLA Piper;

Larisa Galadza, ambassador of Canada in Ukraine;

Peter Kerekgyarto, country manager, Shell;

Alexander McWhorter, country manager, CITI;

Oleksandr Komarov, president, Kyivstar;

Denis Golubchykov, country manager, Johnson & Johnson Ukraine;

Olga Magaletska, director, National Investment Council of Ukraine;

Andry Gorokhov, general manager, UMG Investments;

Nataliya Chernyshova, general manager, Mars Ukraine;