President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau met with representatives of Canadian business in Toronto, the presidential press service reports.
“The participants of the meeting paid attention to the prospects for investing in Ukraine and the necessary prerequisites to start this process before the end of the war,” the statement said.
Zelenskyy thanked Canada for the assistance Ukraine receives and emphasized the importance of implementing projects to restore the country.
“We are very interested in your coming to Ukraine, very interested in the restoration of Ukraine – this is what we need today. These are all areas in which you are strong. We are very interested in your work, business and technology,” Zelenskyy said.
For his part, Trudeau emphasized the importance of economic support for Ukraine.
“A lot needs to be done in terms of humanitarian and military assistance. But there is also a lot to be done economically. So I am glad that we can discuss this with President Zelensky,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
It is noted that the meeting was attended by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, his deputy Rostyslav Shurma, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada Chrystia Freeland, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Oleksandra Chyczij, heads of companies operating in the investment, banking, export, construction, energy, technology, etc.
In order to increase investment in the development of deposits in Ukraine, it is necessary to remove the classification for official use (DSP) from geological data on critical minerals, according to participants of a special industry conference of the European Business Association (EBA) Mining Day (Mining Day), held in Kiev on Friday.
Denis Alyoshin, Director of Strategic Development at Ukrlicitydobycha, noted that access to information can be a very simple and effective incentive for investment. And now it is possible to get information other than that which has the CPD grip.
“But why now we still have information with the CPD grip? What exactly do we not want to show? When I communicate with international investors, on my project I cannot show the critical information that is needed to evaluate my project. For two or three years we have been sending letters to the Prime Minister or relevant ministries, etc. Everyone supports it, no one understands why we need a CPD,” questions Aleshin.
In his opinion, this is a very simple and very effective step, which will immediately open the door, at least for many investment intentions, “even if not investments, but intentions”. Currently, this is a very painful issue for the industry, the manager emphasized.
Referring to the activities of Ukrlitia, he reported on the implementation of the project for the development of Polokhovskoye lithium deposit (Kirovograd region), the resource base of which is 75 million tons of lithium-bearing ore. The company intends to produce concentrate from it and then lithium hydroxide/carbonate.
“The strategy is to work with Europe, as there is not enough lithium there. Lithium is used in the production of lithium batteries. The plans are to recycle, build a plant. We plan to prepare a study according to EBRD standards to attract financing,” the strategic development director said, adding that one of the biggest problems at the moment is qualified personnel.
In turn, deputy director for investments of the investment company umgi Mykola Shevchenko noted that Ukraine has a number of advantages for attracting investments in subsoil development: “what we have and what we can offer investors”.
“In particular, the vast majority of information in Ukraine is available on various minerals. But there is also CPD on critical minerals. And we support the opening of this information for all investors”, – emphasized Shevchenko, adding that now it is impossible to make a strategic decision on the extraction of certain minerals.
At the same time, the manager named among the advantages of Ukraine – availability of land: in Ukraine there is a mechanism of compulsory purchase of land for system needs, while in a number of countries there is no such thing.
“There is transparency of auctions. There is availability of geological information and detailed exploration of territories, but more openness is needed. Among the economic factors, in particular, the low cost of land ($3 thousand, and for example in Poland – $40 thousand) and the low cost of labor ($600),” – stated the deputy director.
In his opinion, to attract investors it is necessary to guarantee military risks, guaranteed withdrawal of dividends, fiscal incentives: tax vacations, preferential long-term lending, decentralization of taxes, so that part of the tax remained locally. Also speeding up and simplifying the change of land designation, greater openness of all geological information.
“We have invested in most of the projects in Ukraine – in mining, and less in processing, as there are certain chemical processes required, there are difficulties in obtaining permits from environmental authorities,” explained the manager.
Andriy Gorokhov, CEO of umgi, added that there is currently no operating critical materials player in Ukraine that is successful: this means that we are not doing something enough as a society.
“Companies have now taken considerable risks and are investing in critical industry projects. They are doing it themselves thanks to equity capital. With no help from the government. They are doing well and are heroes because they are taking big risks. No strategy from the government, no support. It takes a lot of effort, and it is very difficult to cope with the problems alone,” the top manager emphasized, noting that projects in this area are estimated from $300 million to several billion dollars “to build both production and process.”
Therefore, it is difficult for investors to make decisions taking into account the current situation and low returns on funds invested in the projects.
Ukrainian developers are adapting social infrastructure facilities in their residential projects to the increased requirements of inclusiveness and energy security, responding to the challenges of martial law, companies reported in a survey conducted by Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Alexander Nasikovsky, co-founder and managing partner of DIM Group, today, security issues in social infrastructure facilities, as well as in residential buildings, require an integrated approach.
“In our projects we apply a three-level security system, which includes, among other things, energy security. The projects provide the possibility of using alternative energy sources if necessary, strengthened means of automation of engineering communications. In the buildings we install double-glazed windows with new generation glass, which allows sunlight to penetrate into the room, but does not allow solar heat to pass through, we use heat-resistant mineral wool for insulation”, – he noted.
In the portfolio of DIM Group of Companies there are schools and kindergartens at different stages of realization. Thus, in Lucky Land Residential Complex the construction of six kindergartens is planned, and also the project of school is being realized, the operator of which will be KMDSH. In Park Lake City the company is implementing an elementary school, a community center with a restaurant and a kindergarten for 180 children.
Autonomy of life became one of the important factors in development during the martial law, says Alexey Shmatok, the project manager of Greenville Park. According to him, the “city within a city” principle became even more relevant given the air alerts and curfews.
“Constant air alerts, curfews, missile threats – the reasons why a person wants to have all the necessary infrastructure very close by, within a 10-15 minute walk. Parking, shelter, store, pharmacy, playground, school, cafe – all on the territory of the LCD to quickly get everywhere in case of danger,” he explained in a comment to the agency.
Along with autonomy, the inclusiveness of space plays an important role today. According to Schmatok, underground parking lots in Greenville projects are designed with inclusivity in mind, as these spaces will also be used as shelters.
“Total inclusivity is our new reality. Considering the large number of people who are injured and disabled as a result of war, every responsible developer must necessarily design and make in their facilities, whether social or commercial, everything necessary for all people to fully and freely use them, live comfortably and do not experience any limitations,” Dmitry Novikov, marketing director of City One Development, told Interfax-Ukraine.
On the territory of the residential complex “Novopecherskie Lipki” it is planned to build another school and kindergarten, which will also be realized taking into account the norms of inclusiveness and energy efficiency, Novikov said.
According to him, today the most energy-independent object of the developer’s social infrastructure is a kindergarten Leapkids.
“Even during construction, innovative technologies and energy-efficient solutions were applied, which allow the kindergarten to be independent of the city networks: solar collectors for heating and hot water supply, water treatment and purification system, special wells receive geothermal heat energy, which is processed into physically tangible heat. There is a ventilation system with recuperation,” he pointed out.
In its turn, KAN Development continues the construction of A+ school on the territory of “Faina Town” Residential Complex and realizes a recreation area with a swimming pool in “Republic” Residential Complex. KAN adjusts the projects of the complexes, adding shelters for the needs of children and teachers, as well as regulates the heating of houses with its own thermal boilers. We welcome people with different physical abilities on our doorstep: entrances to the buildings are designed without stairs, the ramp slope for access to courtyards is 10%, and in the entrance groups of housing and commercial premises – 2-3%,” the company reported.
In the portfolio of “Intergal-Bud” in the metropolitan region – four built educational institutions, the construction of preschool educational institution in the Residential Complex “Syretskye Gardens” continues, said the commercial director of the company Anna Laevskaya.
“Schools in our Residential Complexes meet the current requirements for energy efficiency and inclusiveness. Moreover, we take into account our previous experience and feedback from education operators who rent these buildings to improve the projects in the future,” the expert emphasized.
More than 236 thousand tech workers in the world have lost their jobs since the beginning of 2023, according to a study by Layoffs.fyi.
The data indicate that the number of layoffs in the tech sector in 2023 will significantly exceed the figure for the previous year. Thus, since the beginning of this year, 1,019 thousand tech companies have laid off 236,495 thousand people. Last year, 1,024 thousand companies laid off 154.34 thousand employees, according to Layoffs.fyi.
In particular, last week, telecommunications equipment manufacturer Cisco Systems Inc. announced the dismissal of 350 employees, and in early September, streaming company Roku Inc. announced a 10% reduction in staff.
Among the tech companies that announced layoffs this year are the American Amazon.com Inc., Electronic Arts, Palantir Technologies, Twilio Inc., DocuSign Inc., Salesforce Inc., Zoom Video Communications, eBay, Dell Technologies, PayPal Holdings, International Business Machines, Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. as well as German SAP and Swedish Spotify Technology.
Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 19.5% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022, after falling by 10.5% in the first quarter and 31.4% in the fourth quarter of last year.
According to the State Statistics Committee’s operational estimate released on Friday, GDP grew by 0.8% in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter (seasonally adjusted).
As reported, in the past year as a whole, Ukraine’s GDP fell by 29.1%, according to the State Statistics Committee.
At the end of July, the National Bank of Ukraine raised its GDP growth forecast for Ukraine in 2023 from 2% to 2.9%, but lowered it for 2024 from 4.3% to 3.5%. At the same time, it estimated growth at 18.1% in the second quarter of this year.
The Ministry of Economy forecasts Ukraine’s GDP growth to 4% in 2023 and 5% next year.
Earlier, the research project Experts Club and Maxim Urakin released an analytical video about the economy of Ukraine and the world – the Experts Club and Maxim Urakin.
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Structure of approved state budget income of Ukraine in 2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
