The share of vacant space in the office real estate segment in Kyiv at the end of 2018 was less 5%, and rental rates are growing, Head of the Capital Markets and Land Parcel Transactions Department of Cushman & Wakefield Volodymyr Mysak said at the Ukrainian Center of Steel Construction conference.
“In Ukraine, there is a very interesting comparison between supply and demand. Kyiv has the smallest number of square meters per 1,000 inhabitants in terms of office space among European cities. That is, there is a huge potential for increasing office space,” the expert said.
The company also believes that the investment attractiveness of office real estate is increasing. “If one has previously massively invested in residential real estate, now they are returning to office real estate. That is, many investors are returning to this,” Mysak said.
According to Cushman & Wakefield, by the end of 2018, the vacancy rate of commercial real estate in Kyiv amounted to 4.9%, the total offer was 649 square meters per 1,000 inhabitants. At the same time, rental rates averaged $29 per square meter a month.
According to Mysak, the vacancy rate is also very low in the warehouse real estate market – about 3%, which causes an increase in rental rates.
The expert said that the amount of investment in commercial real estate in 2018 was a record for 10 years.
“In 2018, there was a lot of investment in the economy of Ukraine, in particular in commercial real estate. We actually reached a 10-year peak – more than $300 million was invested in commercial real estate. This shifted the cycle from the point, and this means investors are confident that the market is moving in a positive direction.”
Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) in connection with the entry into force of the law on liberalization of the currency regulation system from February 7 has offered a new online forex exchange service to individual clients, the bank has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The purchase and sale of currencies will be made without a commission fee at the single exchange rate, which is set in branches of the bank. The purchased currency is instantly available to the client on the account or card for settling payments, placing on a deposit account or withdrawing cash,” Vice-President, Head of the Electronic Business of the bank Illia Borovov told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the service will be available to all customers in the Alfa-Mobile Ukraine mobile application, and for online currency purchases in the application you will need to specify the purchase amount and the account (or a card) for debiting and crediting funds.
“Together with the launch of the online currency exchange, we will offer the opportunity of ordering currency cards to our customers,” Borovov said.
According to him, he expects a fairly high demand for the service from the first days of the service and the transition of a significant part of customers to online purchase of currency due to convenience. At the same time, in the medium term, cash exchanges through the banks’ cash offices and exchange offices will still be in demand by customers who are used to operating in cash, the expert said.
“Moreover, the withdrawal of foreign currency in ATMs is not yet allowed, therefore, the bank’s cash offices are the only place to receive cash currency,” Borovov said.
Asked about competition in the online currency exchange market during the first days of service legalization, he predicted that several other banks, which are actively developing digital services for clients, can launch it along with Alfa-Bank.
As reported, the launch of online currency exchange for individuals on February 7 was announced by PrivatBank and virtual Monobank, which issues cards through two partner banks: Universal Bank (a member of the TAS Group) and IBOX Bank both are based in Kyiv).
On February, 9 and 10 Ancient Kyiv in the «Kyivan Rus Park» invites to an unusual celebration of the Chinese New Year. The kaleidoscope of emotions from the Chinese traditions in the entourage of Kyivan Rus will be waiting for the guests. And also: horse riding, delicious dishes cooked on open fire, hot drinks, master-classes, museums, and various winter amusements. And all these in the live medieval city!
Ancient Kyiv opens at 10:00. The program starts at 13:00.
The ticket price: a full adult ticket – 150 UAH, for pensioners and students – 100 UAH, for schoolchildren – 50 UAH, for preschool children – for free.
Ancient Kyiv in the «Kyivan Rus Park» is located in Kyiv region, Obukhiv district, the vill. Kopachiv.
Route taxis leave from Kyiv from the «Vydybitchi» metro station.
Details on the website www.parkkyivrus.com
The Interfax subscribers can save money with the “openbusiness-20” promo code for a 20%-discount for a full price adult ticket to the Principality of Kyivan Rus:
– by previous order by tel.: +38 044 461-99-37, +38 050 385-20-35
– or at the cash desk at the entrance to the «Kyivan Rus Park».
The UFuture Investment Group of businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky, which portfolio includes UNIT.City innovation park in Kyiv, plans to launch the first phase of LvivTech.City at the end of 2019, the founder of UFuture Investment Group Vasyl Khmelnytsky has said in a blitz interview with Interfax-Ukraine. “We are planning to open LvivTech.City Innovation Park at the end of 2019… We can say that the first Lviv campus will combine office and commercial sections (cafes and restaurants). The office space will be 9,500 square meters, commercial – 3,000 square meters. It will also be built according to the standards of “green” construction,” Khmelnytsky said.
According to him, the company has not yet attracted partners and loan financing for this project and it is building the space at its own expense. “The park has residents, but we do not sign the contracts until we reach the final stage of construction,” the businessman said.
In addition, the company intends to open an educational space in Kharkiv this year. “This year we will launch an institute and a co-working space in Kharkiv. There is already a modern building with an area of 12,000 square meters, in which they will occupy about a quarter… This is the initial stage. The park will expand with the growth of the market,” Khmelnytsky said.
As reported, LvivTech.City will be located on a land parcel of 1.77 ha on the territory of the industrial zone of former Lvivprylad plant. The project would allow creating new jobs and open the territory of the closed enterprise for society.
It is planned that the gross area of the office sector of the LvivTech.City will be over 40,000 square meters. The park would have parking zones, green zone and territories for recreation. In addition, the project will be implemented meeting the LEED green building standards. The completion of the first stage of the LvivTech.City earlier was scheduled for H2 2018.
UFuture and Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute will build and open in Kharkiv the Innovations Campus educational space worth more than UAH 60 million. Earlier it was planned that the campus will start operating at the end of 2018. The training will be based on an innovative educational program, which was developed by UNIT Factory specialists in cooperation with Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute and other Ukrainian higher educational establishments.
In addition, the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship School will continue its work at the campus, whereas modern co-working will open the possibility for start-ups and creative young professionals to get jobs, qualified professional business support, security, access to knowledge.
The organizers also plan to attract investments from the state, enterprises and local business to finance this social and educational project.
UFuture Investment Group, headquartered in Brussels, was established in autumn 2017 and united the business projects of Khmelnytsky. The group includes the Ukrainian development company UDP, whose specialization is the implementation of large infrastructure projects. In addition, the conglomerate united businesses in such areas as UDP Renewables, the Bila Tserkva industrial park, the innovation parks UNIT.City, and LvivTech.City.
UDP Renewables, responsible for development of projects in the renewable energy sphere of the UFuture Group of businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky, plans to implement two projects in the wind energy sphere and retains plans to build solar power plants with a total power capacity of 200 MW. “We are considering two projects that we will implement in the wind energy sector. In the future, I will tell you more specifically when we start building,” Khmelnytsky said in a blitz interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
In addition, according to him, the company maintains plans to build energy projects with a total capacity of 200 MW in Ukraine for 2018-2019, but further plans for the development of these projects will depend on the feed-in tariff.
“We do not change the plan now. We want to build 200 MW. Today we are building 100 MW. That is, we are continuing as planned: we are building five projects in Odesa, Zaporizhia, Kherson and other regions,” the businessman said.
Partners in these projects, in addition to Spain’s Acciona Energia Global, are Slovak and Ukrainian companies.
Earlier UDP Renewables announced its plans to implement energy projects with a capacity of 200 MW in southern regions of Ukraine in 2018-2019. There are two launched solar power plants: Dymerska Solar Power Plant 1 in Kyiv region with a capacity of 6 MW and Free-Energy-Henichesk solar power plant with a capacity of 18.3 MW in Kherson region.
UFuture Investment Group, headquartered in Brussels, was established in autumn 2017 and united the business projects of Khmelnytsky. The group includes the Ukrainian development company UDP, whose specialization is the implementation of large infrastructure projects. In addition, the conglomerate united businesses in such areas as UDP Renewables, the Bila Tserkva industrial park, the innovation parks UNIT.City, and LvivTech.City.
The Textile-Kontakt Group, a large retail and industrial groups on the light industry market in Ukraine, approximately in April seeks to bring the new fabric factory to the projected capacity of 200,000 linear meters a month. “At present, production has been stared and being tested,” the press service of the group told Interfax-Ukraine. Almost UAH 53 million was invested in the new production site in 2018, and in 2019 it is planned to invest some UAH 100 million.
As reported, in September 2018, the group began repairing workshops with a total area of 3,500 square meters and installation of new equipment. The capacity of the plant will be 2-3 million meters of fabric per year.
According to the press service of the company, customers of fabrics are mainly EU countries, in particular, Germany and France.
The payback period of investment, according to pessimistic forecasts, is from seven to eight years.
“I was here in November, the dismantling of old equipment continued. The state of the enterprise was more like a dump. We repaired and restored the old equipment, which is now ready for operation. Also, eight trucks with Italian production lines are about to arrive at the site,” the press service said, citing the founder of the Textile-Kontakt holding Oleksandr Sokolovsky.
Textile-Kontakt was founded in 1995 and today represents a holding company that combines various areas of assets: wholesale and retail trade, the import of fabrics, accessories and home textiles, as well as tailoring of special clothing (including military uniforms).
