Number of unemployed in Ukraine in 2018-2019
Investment of human capital in national wealth in Ukraine is much lower than in European countries, according to a report of the World Bank.
According to the World Bank’s study of the sphere of education in Ukraine, investment of human capital into national wealth in Ukraine is 34% of total national wealth. For comparison, in low-income countries this indicator is 41%, in Europe and Central Asia – 62%, and on average around the world – 64%.
The World Bank said that in Ukraine the percentage of people with higher education is more than 80%, which exceeds the figures of the EU (68%) and countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (74%), but the level of functional literacy among adults is behind indicators of these countries.
In addition, it is said that in Ukraine, there is a gap between education and employment, especially among young university graduates.
Other areas of concern include: unequal access to schooling, a gap in education among students in urban and rural schools, and less likely that graduates from rural schools will go to higher education (40% of graduates from rural schools compared to 70% of graduates in cities).
The World Bank said that about 50% of Ukrainians do not believe that secondary education provides everyone with the same opportunity of studying for free, and 70% believe that corruption in higher education is very common.
At the same time, according to the World Bank, Ukraine spends 6% of GDP on education, which is significantly more than in OECD countries (4.4%).
Among other things, the World Bank said that Ukraine has a too wide network of schools and universities, which is one of the reasons for the high level of expenses. There are 11 students per teacher in Ukraine, and in the OECD countries this indicator averages 13.1.
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, HUMAN CAPITAL, INVESTMENT, NATIONAL WEALTH
The number of employed IT specialists in line with the Labor Code of Ukraine is 2-3%, and the rest of IT specialist work as private entrepreneurs or under a contract, Vice President for Strategy and Technologies at GlobalLogic Ukraine Andriy Yavorsky has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, this situation has arisen due to high taxes in official employment – more than 40%.
“In the current international market, this kind of tax burden is greater than in Poland, and in fact comparable to Germany. It is clear why Poland sets such prices. It is in the same legislative field with Europe, in the same legal field. There are requirements to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there are no borders, good infrastructure, while Ukraine is perceived in this respect as a country that should be “cheaper.” So what’s the point of paying such money in Ukraine when it can be spent without risks on specialists in America or Europe? And this forces companies to collaborate with specialists working as private entrepreneurs,” he said.
Yavorsky said that in order to accelerate the process of transition from an outsourcing model to a product model in Ukraine, the country needs reforms in economic policy and legislative acts.
“We need engineers, capital and entrepreneurs. At least we have good engineers. In order for capital to appear, we need reforms in economic policy and legislative acts,” the top manager said.
According to Yavorsky, for entrepreneurs to appear, it is necessary to create conditions that will allow them to stop their outflow abroad. “When Ukraine has a stable economic policy and the possibility of raising capital, our entrepreneurs will return and will be able to build a lot, already within and for the benefit of their own country,” he said.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, which on September 17 announced an offer to buy back $440 million eurobonds from the $944.515 million issue with maturity in 2023 and a 7.75% coupon and issue new bonds, has received bids for buyback from eurobond holders for $639.391 million. “The estimated scaling factor is approximately 71.265%,” Metinvest reported on the Irish Stock Exchange. According to the terms of the offer, other eurobond holders can still apply for redemption until October 15, inclusive, but they will no longer receive a 3% premium for early applications.
“The purpose of the offer is the proactive management of debt repayment, extending the maturity of the debt and reducing refinancing risks,” Metinvest said.
The buyback price for those who agree to sell before September 30 is 106% of the face value plus accrued interest.
The pricing of new eurobonds is preliminarily scheduled for October 1, the results of the offer are summarized on around October 16 in order to carry out all settlements on October 17.
A source in banking circles told Interfax-Ukraine that Metinvest had held meetings with investors in the United States, Great Britain and continental Europe from September 18 to September 27. The organizers are Deutsche Bank, Natixis and UniCredit. The company intends to place dollar-denominated eurobonds with a maturity of eight to ten years, and will also consider the possibility of a tranche in euros for five to seven years.
Ukraine’s GDP growth will reach 3.2% in 2020 with a further acceleration to 3.6% in 2021, Morgan Stanley predicts.
Since the prospect of land reform is becoming more defined, the bank is raising its forecast for the economic growth of Ukraine and the hryvnia exchange rate. Now it expects GDP growth by 3.2% in 2020 with a further acceleration to 3.6% of GDP in 2021. The bankers also forecast the hryvnia exchange rate of UAH 26.5/$1 at the end of 2019 and UAH 27.5/$1 by the end of 2020.
According to the report, Morgan Stanley also expects the first tranche from the International Monetary Fund for Ukraine before the end of this year, which could follow the adoption of the law on the national budget of Ukraine for 2020.
An annual increase in the number of foreign tourists by at least 500,000 and a twofold increase in the number of Ukrainians traveling outside their region are some of the criteria for the effectiveness of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, according to the government’s program of activities through 2024.
“To do this, it is planned, first of all, to determine the place of Ukraine on the tourist map of the world, create brands from existing points of attraction and launch a program to promote them,” says the document, which was published to the parliament’s website.
Joining existing European tourist networks and cultural routes is also planned.
According to government estimates, successful implementation of the program will help increase the share of cultural, creative product, sports and tourism from 12% to 14% of GDP.
The Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture in 2018 said the number of foreign tourists visiting Ukraine decreased by about 400,000 for the first time in three years, amounting to 14.2 million people. At the same time, in the previous two years it grew rapidly: in 2017 – by almost a million and in 2016 – by 1.2 million.
Despite a decrease in the total number of tourists in 2018, Ukraine’s State Border Service recorded an increase in their number from countries that do not have common borders with Ukraine: from Spain – by 68%, Great Britain – by 47.3%, Lithuania – by 23.4%, Italy – 15.4%, Germany – 13.3%, France – 9.2%, and India – 57.4%, China – 38.8%, Japan – 38.3%, Israel – 21.7% and the United States – 19%.
