The acute issue of returning citizens from abroad can only be solved by creating competitive opportunities in Ukraine, said Vasyl Khmelnytsky, Ukrainian entrepreneur, founder of UFuture holding, UNIT.City innovation park and Bila Tserkva industrial park, at the forum “Industrial Evolution: Production Turns on the Economy” forum held in Bila Tserkva on Thursday.
“People often ask what needs to be done to bring our people back from abroad. I see no other way but to create competitive opportunities in Ukraine – quality education, jobs, decent wages, living standards and services. An industrial park is just such a point of economic growth and a magnet for innovation, investment and talent,” Khmelnytsky emphasized.
Thanks to the support of industrial parks by the state and the local community, the country receives investments.
“Last year, we transferred UAH 18 million in taxes to the local budget from Bila Tserkva Industrial Park, this year (we expect) UAH 25 million, and next year – UAH 50 million. In 20 years, it will be more than a billion. And this is only the local level. Today we are laying the foundation for the future for decades to come,” he said.
He thanked for the important steps the government is taking to support industrial parks.
“The Ministry of Economy has made a powerful decision to compensate 50% of the costs of building communications when creating industrial parks. I am also grateful to the Kyiv Regional State Administration for its assistance in organizing the forum, as well as to the previous head of the administration – with his support we started working on the creation of our industrial park. And with the support of the local community, deputies and the head of the city council, we managed to implement the laying of roads and communications in the park,” the entrepreneur said.
As reported, the Finnish Peikko Group Corporation announced on Thursday the commissioning of an industrial building for the future plant for the production of concrete joints and composite structures in the Bila Tserkva Industrial Park, with planned investments of EUR 3 million.
“The Finnish company is not just investing, but also sharing knowledge and experience, training our people. English and German companies are also building their production facilities here. There are also Ukrainian enterprises from Kharkiv and Sumy, real heroes who have not gone abroad but continue to work in Ukraine,” Khmelnytsky emphasized.
He recalled how twenty years ago he was invited to a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister as an entrepreneur to share his vision of how to ensure rapid economic growth. “I honestly answered that I didn’t know how to achieve growth in a few months. But I know what we need to do now to make Ukraine a strong economy in 15-20 years: develop industrial parks, production, and education. Back then, we were not ready for this. Today I see that we are moving in the right direction,” Khmelnytsky emphasized.
He noted that the trend toward industrial recovery is global, for example, the United States is considering investing $1 trillion in its own industrial parks to bring back production from China.
The Bila Tserkva Industrial Park (IP), a project of the UFuture holding company of entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky, envisages attracting 30 resident companies and $250 million in investments by 2030, creating up to 4,000 jobs.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/1067627.html
Finland’s Peikko Group Corporation has announced the commissioning of an industrial building for a future plant for the production of concrete joints and composite structures in Bila Tserkva Industrial Park, with planned investments of EUR3 million, according to Dmytro Kysylevskyi, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic development.
“The import of equipment will continue through May, after which the plant will start producing products for the needs of the construction industry,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
The MP clarified that Peikko Group will take advantage of tax and customs incentives for participants in the IP. In particular, the legislation provides for the possibility of exemption from VAT and import duties on equipment imports. The company will create about 50 jobs.
Peikko Group has production facilities in 12 countries. Since 2023, the company has been represented in Ukraine by its subsidiary Peikko Ukraine, which participates in infrastructure rehabilitation projects. Peikko’s annual turnover in 2023 amounted to EUR262 million.
As reported, last summer Peikko Group entered into an agreement with Bila Tserkva for the construction of a turnkey plant for the production of concrete joints and composite structures with an area of 2400 square meters. Bila Tserkva and Bila Tserkva-2, with an area of over 24 hectares and over 34 hectares, respectively, are projects of the UFuture holding company owned by entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky.
The Belaya Tserkov Industrial Park (IP) , a project of the holding company UFuture owned by entrepreneur Vasily Khmelnitsky, does not plan to revise its strategic development plan, which envisages attracting 30 resident companies and $250 million in investments by 2030, as well as creating up to 4,000 jobs, according to IP Belaya Tserkov CEO Andrey Ropitsky.
“If there are no ‘black swans’, then, in principle, everything is going according to plan, and we do not plan to revise our strategy,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of ‘Industrial Evolution: Manufacturing Drives the Economy’ at IP ‘Bila Tserkva’ on Thursday.
According to him, in addition to the Finnish Peikko plant, the commissioning of an industrial building for a future plant for the production of concrete joints and composite structures was announced on Thursday, and a plant of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of everyday goods, Unilever, is also under construction.
“Three more companies have purchased land from us this year and are already requesting the construction of networks. We are talking to them about commercial terms and conditions and support the construction of their plants. Therefore, Unilever is currently under construction, and the second phase of the Virastar plant (a manufacturer of high-altitude equipment for construction work – IF-U) is also under construction. So two are under construction, two have been commissioned, and three more are on the way,” he said.
Ropitsky did not specify which investors would be attracted to the park, citing commercial secrecy, but added that it is now easier to attract investors because the park already has ”something to show them.”
“At first it’s difficult because there’s nothing to show and no one trusts you. But when someone has considered the possibility and then I tell them that the plot or building is no longer available, they are ready to buy in the second phase. So it’s much easier to sell now,” Ropitsky said.
During the forum, he clarified that of the two parks (Bila Tserkva and Bila Tserkva 2), the first is already almost full (36 hectares) — all plots have been sold, and the buildings have been constructed, sold, or leased.
“This means that we only have 12 hectares left to develop, which are either already under construction, have been postponed by clients, or will be built by us or our clients. In principle, we will do this within the next two to three years. We have already started organizing the second park,” said the CEO of IP ”Bila Tserkva.”
According to him, IP “Bila Tserkva 2,” with an area of 34.7 hectares, has already received state co-financing for external networks and signed contracts with contractors.
“We are supplying 15 MW of electricity, water, and sewage to the site, and gas is right there across the road. Therefore, in a year, all networks will be in place, just like in the first park,” Ropitsky noted.
He emphasized that in order to attract small and medium-sized businesses to the park, small buildings of up to 2-3 thousand square meters are being built, ”which can be divided into lots and rented out to customers by the thousand square meters.”
Among the problems for the development of industrial parks, he mentioned, in particular, the lack of labor, the absence of materials necessary for construction on the local market, as well as high interest rates on loans.
“We have now launched a vocational training project, a center that will quickly train people who are needed by our clients. And we have already started designing such a building on a neighboring site,” he said.
IP ‘Bila Tserkva’ and ‘Bila Tserkva 2’ were included in the Register of Industrial Parks in 2018.
The developed territory of IP “Bila Tserkva” has attracted 15 residents, including Unilever, InTiCa Systems, Peikko, and Pripravka, which relocated from Kharkiv in 2022, as well as the logistics depot “Nova Poshta,” the grain storage complex “Volytsia-Agro,” the Plank Electrotechnic electrical fittings factory, and Virastar, a manufacturer of high-altitude equipment for construction work.
The Bio-Lan Industrial Park, which is being built in Ternopil region, will help increase grain processing capacity and stimulate the development of alternative energy sources in the region, said Vyacheslav Nehoda, head of the Ternopil Regional Military Administration.
According to the Ternopil Regional Military Administration’s Facebook post, the functional purpose of the Bio-Lan industrial park is the processing industry – bioethanol and biogas production. The planned real estate objects include office, retail, industrial and warehouse premises; engineering buildings.
“The construction of the main engineering and transport infrastructure of the industrial park (access roads and railways, water supply and sewage networks and facilities, gas supply), an elevator complex and warehouse buildings with an oil transfer station, reconstruction of the administrative building, as well as the construction of the main facilities for bioethanol production and biogas production are currently underway,” the UBA said.
The industrial park is expected to create more than 200 jobs, attract EUR110 million in investments, and provide UAH 7 million in local budget revenues annually.
Four industrial parks are currently registered in Ternopil region. Three more will be established by the end of the year.
The development company Alterra Group, which is currently implementing the Formatsiya.Lviv industrial park project, intends to build a network of seven such parks, said Olena Podolska, head of the company’s international business unit.
“Lviv will be our first park, then we will go to Rivne, two will be in Kyiv, and then we will return to the western region – Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, and Khmelnytsky,” she said during the Ukrainian Automotive and Mobility Forum 2024 in Lviv, organized by the Ukrainian Automotive and Mobility Cluster with the support of the USAID Competitive Economy of Ukraine Program.
Podolska noted that there are already several local manufacturers who plan to open 10,000 square meters of production facilities in the Formation.Lviv IP, including the USP sandwich panel manufacturer.
In addition, during the forum, the CEO and owner of Lois Motors LLC, which is implementing a project to create a light electric vehicle LUAZ and plans to scale it up, announced his interest in locating his production in the park.
“I plan to scale up the project and cooperate with the Formatsiya.Lviv industrial park to open either a car production facility for people with disabilities or the next stage of our production,” he said during the forum.
Alterra Group is building 150 square meters of production, warehouse and office space on 30 hectares of land in Formatsiya.Lviv (formerly Formatsiya.Syhnivka). It will include a prototyping laboratory, R&D center, business incubator, event space, offices, and showrooms.
According to the project presentation, the first phase of the park is scheduled to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2025.
Alterra Group LLC is a Ukrainian company specializing in the development and management of turnkey commercial real estate.
The company manages 35 facilities with a total area of 175 thousand square meters. These include warehouse and production complexes, business centers, shopping and entertainment centers.
The company’s completed commercial real estate projects in Ukraine include the PORT logistics center, PROSTIR business hub (both in Lviv), Palo Alto business center (Kyiv), and Joule and JAM warehouse complexes in Kyiv region.
A new industrial park, Integral, will be set up in Vinnytsia on the territory of a former lamp factory, the city’s mayor, Sergey Morgunov, said on Facebook.
“Today we launched the creation of the fifth industrial park in Vinnytsia. Invest Holding Company LLC plans to invest UAH 1 billion in its construction. Subsequently, about 930 people will be employed here,” Morgunov wrote on Thursday evening.
He emphasized that attracting investment and opening new production facilities during the war is critical for the life of the community.
According to opendatabot, Invest Holding Company LLC was registered in 2022, with the main activity being the provision of commercial services and leasing of property. The ultimate beneficiary of the company is Vinnytsia businessman Taras Kovalchuk. In 2023, the company’s revenue amounted to UAH 5 million, and the loss was UAH 0.26 million.
Kovalchuk owns Zodchiy LLC, a Vinnytsia-based company specializing in the sale of wood and building materials (he owns 87.8% of Invest Holding Company LLC). The company’s net income in 2023 amounted to almost UAH 566 million.
There are currently four IPs in Vinnytsia: Vinnytsia Cluster of Refrigeration Engineering, WinterSport, Volia Agri-Food Park Vinnytsia, and VinIndustri, which has four residents and has received UAH 79 million in state support under the IP support program. Volia Agri-Food Park Vinnytsia, which is invested by Borys Shestopalov, co-owner of foodtech companies HD Gtroup and GFS, also received about UAH 116 million in state support.
