Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Ukraine Matti Maasikas is satisfied with the pace of improvement of the business climate in the country.
The new government and the new president have taken an obligation to improve business climate, he said at the Kyiv International Economic Forum on Friday, adding that there is significant progress in the legislative process seen in the parliament if to speak about the improvement of business environment and fight against corruption.
Maasikas called the achievement of the rule of law, the fight against corruption among the main problems that Ukraine should solve. At the same time, he said that he sees positive trends in this direction.
The dynamics are positive if we talk about the law on illegal enrichment, the ambassador said. In addition, there are other examples – the fight against money laundering, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on investors to invest in Ukrainian people, who are the main capital of the country, and reiterated that he personally guarantees protection to each investor. “You are in a phenomenal country. Without modesty, I’ll say that this is one of the most interesting and attractive startups on planet Earth. Yes, for 28 years important reforms were imitated, built a shadowy opaque system. As a result, Ukraine has become a kind of economic underdog. But the new Ukrainian government is too ambitious to put up with such a very unattractive status, and when they say that our chances are low, when they underestimate us, all this adds us adrenaline, determination, strength for a powerful economic leap,” he said, speaking at the Kyiv International Economic Forum on Friday.
Zelensky said that people are the main capital of Ukraine.
“This is the very one Made in Ukraine that we are proud of and which gives us a competitive advantage. After all, the modern global economy is actually an economy of talents. Economic growth in the world is mainly thanks to innovation, while Ukrainians are ready to become pioneers, Ukrainians are able to look to the future and understand the needs of tomorrow. Ukrainians are very talented, hardworking, courageous, ambitious, creative, and this is exactly what your investment needs,” he said, addressing investors.
The president said that Ukraine is well aware that the country needs equal rules of the game for everyone, cleansing the judiciary, overcoming corruption, digitalizing processes, reforming education in accordance with the challenges of the 21st century, laws that are vital for the economy, even when they are unpopular.
“Every day, together with the government and parliament, we are putting all these bills into life,” he said.
Zelensky called on investors to invest in Ukrainians, in Ukrainian youth, in Ukrainian startups, small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine.
“And remember: today, Ukraine is a rough diamond that needs to be cut with internal reforms and external investments to become a real diamond not only in the center of Europe, but throughout the world. And I, as president, guarantee that I am ready to personally protect your every investment, every penny that you invest in each of our Ukrainians,” he said.
The president also said that the video shown before the opening of the forum said that, according to the forecasts of futurologists, until 2050 there will be two main players in the world: China and India, but it was also said that “futurologists are sometimes mistaken.”
“When I decided to run for the post of the president of Ukraine, there were also two other leaders, but futurologists are sometimes mistaken. Therefore, we all have to do everything this time so that futurologists are also mistaken, and among the two columns where India and China are, Ukraine too occupies pride of place,” he said.
The founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma has said at the Kyiv International Economic Forum that he fell for Ukraine a long time ago and sees a large potential for development.
“Such a wonderful combination like this cannot fail,” he said at the forum, noting the fertile land, open and ready for change people, beautiful women and rich history among Ukraine’s advantages.
The founder of Alibaba said that there are few countries in the world where the president is a trifle over forty, the prime minister is thirtysomething, and some ministers are 28, and this is positive.
Ma said that he would invite his business partners to visit Ukraine.
In his opinion, Ukrainian-Chinese relations should be actively developing.
He also called for changing the situation when AliExpress products go to Ukraine from four to seven days “like in the last century.”
During his visit to Ukraine, Ma met with the president, visited a number of universities and will also be on a visit to the UNIT.City innovation park.
Commodity pattern of Ukrainian export in Jan-Aug, 2019
The largest global software maker Microsoft Corp. expects growth in income from sale of cloud technologies in Ukraine by 50% every year in the coming two years, Director of Microsoft Ukraine LLC Jan Peter De Jong said during the press breakfast in Kyiv on Thursday.
At the same time, he said that as part of the global digital transformation in the company at the global level, the development and implementation of customer access to cloud services are becoming a priority in Ukraine.
De Jong said that this is about all the cloud services of Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Dynamics.
“Digital transformation allows rethinking the ways people, data and processes interact. A digital transformation strategy that focuses on these three main components will make your company more effective for customers and gain a competitive advantage in a digital-oriented world,” he said.
The world’s largest software maker Microsoft Corp. increased its net profit in the first quarter of FY2020 by 21%, including thanks to the cloud business.
Ukraine’s Interpipe had to initiate the launch of the antidumping investigation by Ukraine regarding imports of steel seamless hot finished pipes from China, as the imports of Chinese pipes in 2018 doubled, and their share of total imports grew to 50-55%.
“We felt threatened by Chinese imports. According to statistics, in 2018, Chinese imports in absolute terms doubled, to about 35,000 tonnes, while in 2016-2017, it amounted to 15,000-16,000 tonnes,” Head of the Trade Investigation Department of the Interpipe group Hlib Brydnia said at the Trade Wars: Art of Protection conference in Kyiv on Thursday.
According to him, the share of Chinese imports of the domestic market also increased significantly.
“Since the state-owned company Ukrgazvydobuvannia somewhat slowed down the pace of drilling, the need for seamless pipes decreased, and this led to a significant decrease in the domestic pipe market. Moreover, the share of pipes from China of total imports grew significantly, according to our estimates, to 50-55%. Therefore, we initiated an investigation,” Brydnia said.
He also said that in case of restrictions on the supply of Chinese pipes to Ukraine, a shortage of this product will not occur.
“We produce all types of pipes for which we initiated the investigation, and we are ready to satisfy all the demand for these products. In addition, consumers can purchase imported products from other countries,” the representative of Interpipe said, adding that Chinese pipes do not always correspond to international standards and there are problems with their quality.
