Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy Luigi Di Maio, who is in Kyiv on an official visit, and discussed with him topical issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation, as well as cooperation in the field energy and infrastructure, according to a government portal on Thursday.
The prime minister said that in 2021 Ukraine will begin the process of privatization of large state-owned enterprises and invited representatives of Italian business to participate in tenders. “The auctions showed great interest on the part of foreign investors, and that the process of large and small privatization can be interesting for the further development of business in Ukraine,” the head of government said.
Shmyhal also noted positive trends in trade between Ukraine and Italy. “Ukraine is ready to offer Italian business the advantages of a deep and comprehensive free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU, in particular, in the format of industrial cooperation, including the implementation of joint production projects,” the prime minister said.
Shmyhal and Di Maio also touched upon the issues of cooperation in the agricultural sector and energy. “The European Green Deal is one of the priorities of our government. We are ready to join efforts aimed at realizing the goals of the Green Deal, and are interested in the development of alternative energy technologies,” the head of government said.
The prime minister invited Italian companies to cooperate in the field of gas production.
Also, the parties discussed interaction in infrastructure projects, in particular, on the development of the railway. “I would like to note the importance of the recently signed Memorandum between Ukrzaliznytsia JSC and the National Railway Company of Italy on the implementation of a high-speed railway communication project. This is an important and promising project. I am convinced that this cooperation has a wide range of opportunities,” Shmyhal said.
Di Maio, for his part, said that Italy strongly supports Ukraine’s European aspirations and the implementation of reforms, including agrarian, anti-corruption, and judicial reforms.
Metinvest, an international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group of companies, is launching a large-scale project for the construction of a new workshop for the production of cold-rolled steel, galvanized and painted coils at Illich Metallurgical Plant (Donetsk region). According to a company press release, the group signed a contract for the supply of equipment with the world’s leading supplier of metallurgical technologies, Italy’s Danieli, on June 10. The total investment in the project will exceed $1 billion.
At the same time, it is specified that it is planned to build a cold rolling shop at Illich steel mill, which will consist of a continuous cold rolling mill combined with a pickling line, as well as three modern lines for applying zinc, aluminum-zinc and polymer coatings. At the first stage, investments in the project will exceed $800 million.
For the construction of the complex, Metinvest will attract a large foreign contractor with experience of participation in similar projects.
It is planned that in 2025, after the completion of the first stage of the project, the mill will produce about 1.2 million tonnes of highly competitive cold-rolled and galvanized steel, as well as color-coated steel per year. At the same time, the capacity for the production of cold-rolled coils will amount to more than 400,000 tonnes, galvanized coils – over 60,000 tonnes and polymer-coated coils – more than 140,000 tonnes.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, the Director General of Metinvest, noted that the construction of a cold rolling mill is the company’s most ambitious project for the next five years.
“This is a logical continuation of the program of modernization of rolled steel production at Illich steel plant. The entire new technological chain, including a modern continuous casting machine, a reconstructed 1700 mill and a new cold rolling shop, will allow Metinvest to achieve world-class product quality at all stages of production – from semi-finished products to coated rolled products. The production of premium high-tech goods, the use of advanced technologies, environmental friendliness and the creation of new jobs for qualified specialists – all this makes the project significant for Mariupol, for the industry, and for the whole country,” the top manager said.
June 10, 2021 — Gazelle Finance, as part of its expansion strategy targeting Eastern Partnership countries along the eastern border of the European Union, is launching its operations in Ukraine. USAID’s Competitive Economy Program (CEP) and Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) have recently begun supporting Gazelle Finance in this initial effort.
Since 2017, Gazelle Finance, through its first impact investment fund Gazelle Fund I, has invested over $25M in 35 high-growth small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Eastern Partnership countries of Georgia and Armenia. With the addition of Ukraine to Gazelle Finance’s next impact investment fund, the Gazelle Finance Eastern Partnership Growth Fund II, the company will expand its SME market by ten-fold.
“USAID has a long and successful track record of supporting the development of capital markets in the region,” said USAID/Ukraine Mission Director James Hope. “We are excited about the launch of Gazelle Finance in Ukraine. It will address a key underserved market segment – the missing middle of SMEs – through an innovative tool with the potential to help a new generation of entrepreneurs to compete and thrive across diverse sectors.”
Since 2018, USAID has had two large-scale economic development programs in Ukraine — CEP, which operates country-wide, and ERA, which is focused on the government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts in addition to the Sea of Azov region in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Key objectives of these programs include supporting new markets, improving the competitiveness of SMEs, and increasing the inflow of investments, which includes the development of the private equity and venture capital ecosystem to accelerate foreign direct investment into the country.
“An important objective of ERA is to attract institutional investment capital and know-how transfer to support SMEs in the conflict regions of eastern Ukraine, including Mariupol, Kramatorsk, and Severodonetsk,” said Michael Pillsbury, Chief of Party of USAID ERA. “Most SMEs in these regions lack the necessary collateral to secure bank financing, so Gazelle Finance’s innovative quasi-equity financial instruments, blended with value-add advisory services and know-how transfer, will provide a critical financial instrument alternative that otherwise does not exist in the marketplace today.” — added Volodymyr Cherviakov, ERA Investment Lead.
“The investment potential in Ukraine is largely untapped. With its strategic position on the eastern border of the European Union, a burgeoning IT sector, and other competitive industries, the country is poised for sustained economic growth,” said David Anderson, Chief of Party of USAID CEP. “Gazelle Finance’s entry into Ukraine plays an important role in providing growth capital to SMEs across the supply chains of Ukraine’s high growth sectors, which will generate high-paying jobs, facilitate import substitution, and accelerate hard currency denominated exports.”
Gazelle Finance
Gazelle Finance is an investment company that finances high-growth small and medium size enterprises in the Eurasia Region. The company seeks to identify gaps and barriers in frontier capital markets and provide a combined financing and business advisory solution to ambitious entrepreneurs. By investing and partnering with these entrepreneurs, Gazelle Finance helps local markets and economies to expand, while generating commercial returns for its investors. For additional information, please contact Natia Mariamidze at: +995 32 2 243 432 or via e-mail: nmariamidze@gazellefinance.com.
USAID
USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work demonstrates American generosity, promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience, and advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity. USAID has partnered with Ukraine since 1992, providing more than $3 billion in assistance. USAID’s current strategic priorities include strengthening democracy and good governance, promoting economic development and energy security, improving health care systems, and mitigating the effects of the conflict in the east. For additional information about USAID in Ukraine, please visit our website: http://www.usaid.gov/ukraine or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/USAIDUkraine.
USAID ERA
The USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) is a six-year program (2018-2024) that supports the development of a resilient, inclusive, and growth-oriented economy in eastern Ukraine. In the wake of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, ERA is empowering eastern Ukrainians to establish livelihoods and businesses in promising economic sectors, and to expand to new markets across Ukraine, the European Union (EU), and other international markets. ERA emphasizes including internally displaced persons, women, young adults, Roma, and other under-represented groups among its beneficiaries to ensure that they also share in the region’s economic success. For more detailed information about ERA, please write to info_era@dai.com or visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ERAUkraine.
USAID CEP
The USAID Competitive Economy Program (CEP) is a five-year program (2018-2023) that promotes a strong, diverse, and open economy by increasing the competitiveness of startups and SMEs in Ukraine. This includes increasing the competitiveness of Ukrainian products in foreign markets through improvements in the business-enabling environment, with a focus on emerging industries, investment and access to finance, exports, and trade facilitation. For more detailed information about CEP, please visit its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/usaidcep.ua.
The launch of a project for the supply of electric locomotives to Ukraine can create more than 7,000 jobs in the country in the long term, the French concern Alstom has said.
“The creation of new jobs will be one of the main positive consequences of the contract, which will be signed in the near future. According to our estimates, more than 7,000 jobs will be created or retained in Ukraine thanks to the electric locomotive business in the long term,” the company told Interfax -Ukraine.
Asked about the delivery times and conditions of locomotive maintenance, Alstom said that this issue is currently being resolved with customers and cannot yet be brought up for discussion.
According to representatives of Alstom, the company is looking for local clients in Ukraine, including among private businesses.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at a meeting on Wednesday approved the systems for assessing and checking stability of the essential characteristics of construction products, which are required for declaring their performance.
According to an explanatory note to the draft resolution, the systems provided for by the document comply with the requirements set by Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
The approval of assessment and verification systems will allow for effective quality control of construction products and their distribution in the markets.
Italian Foreign and International Cooperation Minister Luigi Di Maio is making his first visit to Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
“My great pleasure to welcome Head of Italian diplomacy Luigi Di Maio in Kyiv to deepen friendly ties between Ukraine and Italy and open a Ukrainian-Italian business forum. Turning contacts into Ukrainian-Italian contracts. This is his first visit to Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote on his Twitter page.
