Ukraine intends to retain the half of $2.7 billion received in August 2021 from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during SDR distribution as a buffer against future risks, according to the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies of Ukraine signed with the IMF, published by the IMF and the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.”While the deficit has remained in check, given large gross external financing needs including a significant amount of debt maturing that was issued at concessional rates, we have used about half of the recent general SDR allocation,” the government said in the memo. The government said that this will help to buttress our external stability objectives.
Kovalska Industrial and Construction Group has invested UAH 200 million in lime burning capacities, the press service of the group told Interfax-Ukraine.The company said that lime kilns were built in Rozvadiv, Lviv region. They will work 24/7, which will create additional 50 jobs. The new lime kilns will be part of the production complex, investments in which have already amounted to EUR 45 million.“We started the creation of a production cluster in Rozvadiv in 2020. It will include a quarry for extraction of high-quality sand, a plant for production of aerated concrete blocks, a plant for production of dry mixes and facilities for burning lime. This will create additional jobs and give additional acceleration to the economy of the entire country,” Director General of Kovalska Group Serhiy Pylypenko said.As reported, in 2020, Kovalska Group acquired an industrial complex with an area of 140 hectares in Rozvadiv, Lviv region. It includes: sand and limestone quarries, shaft kilns for calcining lime, a workshop for production of mineral powder and a plant for production of silicate bricks. Now in Rozvadiv, Lviv region, the construction of a plant for production of dry building mixtures of the Siltek brand is underway. The production capacity of the enterprise will be 150,000 tonnes of mixtures per year.Kovalska Industrial And Construction Group has been operating in the construction market of Ukraine since 1956. It is a leading manufacturer of construction materials, developer and builder of the country.
Investment in physical capital and infrastructure without sufficient investment in human capital may not give Ukraine the expected dividends, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Bjerde welcomed the fact that policymakers have identified priority areas and recognized the need to mobilize investment. She said this, commenting on the government’s intention to stimulate investment in “growth points” – priority sectors.
She emphasized one important aspect that has not been particularly highlighted in the government’s plans – the importance of human capital. Education, skills, experience, innovation and public health together is, according to a study, the most important resource for sustainable economic growth. This is glue that brings together other factors of production, including physical capital and infrastructure, she added.
As reported, the government has identified five priority clusters that can have the highest multiplier effect for Ukraine: technological production, energy security, life safety, transport and the City of Craftsmen, or the development of local, unique industries. According to the government, stimulating these “growth points” with investments in the amount of $1 billion will give the highest multiplier effect and will lead to economic growth by 1-2% of GDP.
Qatar seeks a sustainable investment partnership with Ukraine, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Acting Minister of Finance of Qatar H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari said during the second meeting of the joint commission on economic, trade and technical cooperation between the two countries.
“In August 2020, the Qatari company QTerminals signed an agreement with the Ukrainian side on the concession for Olvia seaport in Mykolaiv. In the next five years, it is planned to invest in the development of the Ukrainian port and infrastructure. We will continue to expand the investment partnership,” he said.
“Today’s meeting of the commission is a necessary tool to achieve this goal,” he added.
Following the meeting, the co-chairs of the commission namely Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari and Ukrainian Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko signed a protocol on amending the agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Qatar on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion in relation to income tax.
The parties also discussed further steps in the development of bilateral relations and defined promising areas of cooperation, in particular, attracting investments, developing entrepreneurship and cooperation in tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, energy, health care, and financial sector, the report said.
“The meeting reaffirmed the desire of the two states to intensify economic activity. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing an upward trend in bilateral trade and hope to continue this positive trend. One of our top priorities is to attract investment in the economies of the two countries and strengthen business cooperation,” Marchenko said.
The Ministry of Finance recalled the first meeting of the joint commission on cooperation between Ukraine and Qatar took place in 2018.
An influential official and businessman from Saudi Arabia, Abdulrahman Alolaya, arrived in Ukraine on an unofficial business visit.
He is the CEO of the TaibahVally investment campaign and one of the leaders of the national investment program “Saudi Vision 2030”, which is looking for the most profitable and innovative areas for investment. The Sovereign Wealth Fund of Saudi Arabia, which finances the program, is one of the largest investment funds in the world.
The meeting took place at the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The guest was told about the developments in the field of digital state. Alexander Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for IT Development, promised to provide a list of the most successful Ukrainian startups and promote cooperation in every possible way.
“Ukraine is very interesting for us, because it has a lot of experience in modern technologies, there are highly qualified personnel and interesting startups. At the same time, the investment market is in the early stages of development and this is a good period for investing,” said Abdulrahman Alolaya.
Abdulrahman Alolaya also visited the offices of several Ukrainian technology companies, including UNITCity.
“Ukraine has a large number of interesting IT services. However, the weak marketing of these services to the Arab market leads to the fact that they do not know about it. We want to fix it,” said Ukrainian businessman Oleksandr Chechuga. He and his partners invited an Arab investor to Ukraine. Dmitry Buravel and Alexander Chechuga are co-owners of the Ukrainian company BlockHunter, which work with block chain technologies, develops electricity storage systems; Roman Movchan is the owner and CEO of PrimeBerry, one of the largest producers and exporters of berries. These companies have already managed to enter the Saudi market and are ready to help other Ukrainian startups.
More guests from Saudi Arabia were interested in Ukrainian developments in the fields of education, block chain and digital government services.
The debut International Defense Investment Forum, dedicated to the search for new directions in the development of Ukraine’s defense industry, which featured about 20 investment projects, was held in Kyiv at the Sikorsky Challenge (National Technical University of Ukraine “Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”) on Thursday.
“The authorities have an understanding of the existing problems and the need to take all measures aimed at improving the current investment climate in the country,” Deputy Prime Minister for Strategic Industries Oleh Urusky said, opening the forum.
He said that the recently adopted laws On Defense Procurement should remove excessive secrecy in the defense industry and ensure transparency of procurement and On the peculiarities of reforming the state-owned defense industry should facilitate the attraction of investment and private business in the sector, according to which on the basis of Ukroboronprom two holding companies will be created.
Urusky also said that the Ministry for Strategic Industries of Ukraine has developed a Strategy for the Development of Ukraine’s Defense Industry until 2030. According to him, given the nature of modern wars and conflicts, the main directions in the development and production of domestic weapons and military equipment were: automated control systems; rocket and space technology; high-precision means of destruction, ammunition and products of special chemistry; means of electronic warfare; unmanned platforms and shock robotics; “soldier of the future” equipment.
During the forum, which was attended by a delegation from the UAE led by the Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri, about 20 investment projects were presented in three areas: high-precision weapons and ammunition; robotic equipment: air, ground and marine components; automation of control and communication system.
In particular, “Shock unmanned aerial vehicle complex with barrage ammunition ST-35 Thunder (LLC NPP Athlon Avia), Organization of lines for the production of large caliber cartridges 12.7×99; 12.7×108; 14,5х114 for small arms (LLC Stiletto Ukraine) and Unmanned robotic platforms Scorpion 2 and Dwarf scout (LLC Infocom).
Among other projects – “Universal robotic remote-controlled combat module/Project ACHILLES” (LLC Diamond Defense Systems), Light BPAK battlefield Yatagan-2 with a swarm function (LLC First Contact).
