The draft law on legalization of gambling, which is being discussed within the framework of the working group of the Verkhovna Rada, after its adoption could give a significant impetus to the development of five-star hotels and encourage investors to open new facilities in this segment, Managing Partner of ArtBuild Hotel Group Oleksiy Yevchenko believes.
“A significant impetus to the development of hotel business will be provided by the adoption of the law on gambling, which will regulate the placement of casinos in five-star hotels for a certain number of rooms depending on the region. Hotels for casinos could appear both in large cities and in smaller towns, causing the active development and growth of a certain region,” he said at the conference “Hotel Real Estate in Ukraine: Development Prospects.”
According to the expert, the bill has a chance to be adopted before the end of 2019 or at the beginning of 2020. According to the document, casinos will be placed in five-star hotels with over 200 rooms in Kyiv, and over 120 rooms in Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa, and from 100 rooms in all other cities.
“This will only spur the development of the five-star segment. The question is whether we have the key targeted audience here and whether there are enough tourists to fill this particular segment. In Kyiv, the occupancy of five-star hotels is on average 38%. And if another five to ten objects are built, as there are already real investors interested in this, with the number of rooms exceeding 200, with large places for organizing casinos, what will happen to the economy of these hotels?” the expert said.
He said the draft law under consideration provides for a mandatory requirement for hotels: the availability of 500 square meters of free space for a casino.
“Out of about 70 five-star hotels in Ukraine, only eight to ten hotels have such a large free space. Therefore, it is very important how the bill is adopted,” the expert stated.
DEVELOPMENT, FIVE-STAR HOTELS, GAMBLING BUSINESS, LEGALIZATION
Premier of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk has proposed setting up Fund of Human Capital Development for IT sector to enable it manage sector on its own. “The problem in the lack of staff…We hope to establish conditions for the sector to work faster,” Honcharuk said during the meeting of the government with export IT industry in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to the premier, the means of this fund will be forwarded for scholarships of talented students, grants for young scientists and the creation of educational infrastructure.
Head of State Tax Service Serhiy Verlanov reported that a special taxation option for individuals in IT sector should be introduced.
In addition to the 5% single tax, 1.5% military tax and unified social tax from two minimum wages, the head of the service suggests introducing a tax on the development of human capital. It will be administered by the tax service and transferred to sector managed-by fund, and its rate will be gradually raised from 1% in 2020 to 5% in 2024.
According to Verlanov, this taxation option will give more guarantees and advantages, however, the transition to it is voluntary, and those who wish can stay on today’s third form of simplified taxation.
The premier has said the government expects that this will allow in 10 years to increase the export of the IT from $3 billion up to $10 billion, the number of workers in this sphere of services will increase from 165,000 to 650,000 people.
Ukraine has announced a tender for the development of three more hydrocarbon deposits, including Hrunivske (Sumy and Poltava regions), Okhtyrske (Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions), and Ichnianske (Chernihiv region) on the basis of production sharing agreements (PSA).
The corresponding announcements about the tender were published in the Uriadovy Kurier newspaper on August 3.
The area of Hrunivske deposit is 1,083 square kilometers, that of Okhtyrske some 672 square kilometers, and Ichnianske some 2,086 square kilometers. According to the terms of the tender documentation, approved at the end of 2018, the winners on the first and second fields will have to ensure the drilling of at least two exploratory wells and conduct 3D seismic surveys during the first stage of exploration (the first five years). The winner on the third lot will have to ensure the drilling at least three wells and conducting 3D seismic surveys.
The minimum investment for Hrunivske and Okhtyrske deposits is UAH 500 million UAH, and that for Ichnianske some UAH 900 million.
The PSA is valid for 50 years. The state’s share in profitable products should be at least 11% of its total volume, the maximum share of compensation products, due to which the investor will be reimbursed for his expenses, is 70% of the total production. Applications for participation in the tenders are accepted within three months from the date of publication of the announcement of the tenders.
INTEGRITES acted as local counsel to EuroCape Ukraine, an indirect subsidiary of LongWing Energy, a Luxemburg-based independent power producer operating renewable assets in Europe, in connection with the financing of the first 98 MW phase of a 500 MW wind farm in Zaporizhia region, Ukraine.
The first phase of the project build-out is financed by a mixture of debt and equity. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is providing US$150 mln in long-term financing. The remaining project costs are financed by LongWing S.C.A, VLC Renewables and GE Capital’s Energy Financial Services. GE Renewable Energy will also supply the turbines for the 98 MW.
The first phase of the project is under construction and shall enter operation in the first quarter of 2020. The subsequent phases are intended to be finished in the course of 2020. The wind park when fully constructed is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 4.86 tons per year and provide 780,000 of households in Ukraine with electricity.
INTEGRITES was retained by the sponsors as local counsel on overall aspects of financing, construction, regulatory, corporate and other development matters related to the project. In particular, the advice included structuring, advice on capital and exchange controls, review of the project and finance documentation as well as complex advice on the FiT regime, the PPA and the grid connection agreement.
«We are delighted to see that this pioneering and large-scale wind energy project has successfully achieved the financial close. Above all, this project will have a positive social and environmental impact for the region and we are proud to have contributed to promoting the sustainable development of Ukraine”, – comments Igor Krasovskiy, partner and project lead at INTEGRITES.
«I am very proud to see INTEGRITES helping to implement the second wind farm project financing in Ukraine after the Syvash deal, closed by our team a few months earlier this year. I am sure that reaching financing for the remaining 402 MW will be as successful as this deal», – said Dr. Oleksiy Feliv, Managing Partner at INTEGRITES.
INTEGRITES team included, among others, Managing Partner Dr. Oleksiy Feliv (Energy and Real Estate), partners Igor Krasovskiy (Finance/Projects), Illya Tkachuk (M&A and Corporate), Viktoriya Fomenko (Tax and Customs law), counsels Serhii Uvarov and Gennadii Roschepii, senior associates Olena Savchuk, Inna Kostrytska and Yuriy Korchev, associates Oleh Kotliar and Victoriia Shvydchenko.
About Longwing
LONGWING ENERGY SCA is a European IPP platform which acquires, constructs and long-term operates onshore wind and solar parks in Europe. LongWing Energy owns a pipeline of operating and development wind park projects of approx. 900 MW located in France, Poland and Ukraine. The company has a growth strategy targeting additional markets.
About INTEGRITES
INTEGRITES is a full-service law firm with headquarter in Ukraine. Particularly focused on renewables, the firm represents the biggest international clients with a cumulative commitment to 2 GW of wind and 500 MW solar power projects in Ukraine which ensures the firm’s leading position on the regional market. For more information visit www.integrites.com
DEVELOPMENT, INTEGRITES, LONGWING ENERGY, WIND FARM, ZAPORIZHIA
The Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (BAU), together with the associations uniting the leading producers of electricity from renewable energy sources, have addressed President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the situation with the payment for purchased electricity from alternative sources at a feed-in tariff. According to the press service of the BAU, the decisions of the Kyiv District Administrative Court to suspend the decisions of the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation (NCER), which set tariffs for electricity transmission for Ukrenergo, will lead to non-payments to producers of electricity from renewable sources.
The letter also emphasizes that the decision of the Kyiv District Administrative Court to satisfy the claim of Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant to secure the claim against the NCER will lead to a halt in building new renewable energy facilities, a failure to comply with the obligations to financial institutions. In addition, it will damage the investment attractiveness of Ukraine and freeze the development of the renewable energy industry.
“We are asking to support the strategic development of the renewable energy industry in Ukraine and prevent the deterioration of the investment climate due to the violation of the guarantees provided by the state,” the letter reads.
Mykhailo Fedorov, the adviser to the president of Ukraine, at a meeting with the representatives of Japanese business presented an action plan in the development of digital economy and got acquainted with the proposals of the foreign guests.
“Electronic services, the improvement of state registers, the e-residency project should make doing business in Ukraine easy and transparent. We are very interested in attracting investment and advanced innovations of Japan to develop joint projects in the field of the Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, Smart Cities, electronic identification, the development of R&D centers, etc.,” he said.
He noted that the development of digital economy is one of the priorities of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Today we are uncompetitive in the world, ineffective – only digitalization of economic sectors can help us make the leap and achieve real economic growth. Together with the core business and the public, we defined clear objectives and goals until 2024,” the adviser said.
The representatives of Japanese business focused on the problematic issues of doing business in Ukraine, such as the complexity of interaction with the tax and migration services, hiring workers, etc., as well as the key interests of Japanese business [in particular, the introduction of R&D centers and various innovation projects].
