At a meeting on Friday, the government approved a procedure for providing compensation for the cost of engineering and transport infrastructure built by an applicant/investor with significant investments and the costs of connection and connection to engineering and transport networks necessary for project implementation.
“…approved the last regulatory document necessary to launch the mechanism of state support for projects with significant investments. Investors who are ready to implement projects in Ukraine worth EUR 12 million or more will receive maximum assistance and support from us in the form of support, tax and customs benefits, compensation for the cost of constructed engineering and transport infrastructure facilities or connection to engineering and transport networks, etc.”, the release of the Ministry of Economy quotes First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.
She added that this year the state budget has allocated UAH 3 billion to support such investors.
The Ministry of Economy clarified that investors who plan to implement a project in Ukraine worth EUR 12 million or more with a duration of up to 5 years in the areas of processing industry, mining for further processing or enrichment, transport, logistics, education, research, healthcare, waste management, art, culture, tourism, sports, and electronic communications will be able to receive state support.
To receive support, the applicant (a resident or non-resident legal entity) must submit an application to the Ministry of Economy together with the relevant documents for the evaluation of a project with significant investments, after which the Ministry must evaluate the investment project and provide an opinion on the feasibility/inefficiency of its implementation and the conclusion of a special investment agreement or refusal to conclude it.
After that, a special investment agreement will be concluded between the Cabinet of Ministers, a local government body (if state support is provided by such a body for the implementation of a project with significant investments), an investor with significant investments, and the applicant.
In addition, to support the preparation and implementation of an investment project with significant investments, the applicant must contact UkraineInvest for information and advisory assistance.
The Ministry of Economy emphasized that investors can receive several types of support from the state, which amount to up to 30% of the amount of an investment project with significant investments, in particular: the preemptive right to use state or communal land plots, compensation for the cost of building engineering and transport infrastructure and the cost of connecting to engineering and transport networks, tax benefits, duty-free import of necessary equipment, as well as exemption from compensation for forestry losses and other costs.
According to the report, projects should include the construction, modernization, technical or technological re-equipment of the relevant investment objects and the creation of new jobs. The investor needs to create at least 10 jobs with a salary at least 50% higher than the average salary in the region for this type of activity, or 30 jobs with a salary at least 30% higher than the average salary in the region for this type of activity, or 50 jobs with a salary at least 15% higher than the average salary in the region for the same type of activity.
Ukraine intends to create an Investment Attraction Agency as a single entry point for investors in the Ukrainian private sector, First Deputy Prime Minister Yuliya Sviridenko said on Facebook.
“To ensure that all investors wishing to invest in the private sector in Ukraine have a single point of entry, we are working on the launch of a single institution – the Investment Attraction Agency,” she wrote following a visit to London, where she discussed its creation, including with the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
According to her, during the meeting, LSE specialists assured that they are ready to provide their expertise and help build this institution.
Sviridenko said she also met with British International Investment, which last summer at a conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction in London said it was ready to allocate GBP250 million to finance the private sector in Ukraine, mainly for post-war reconstruction.
“These funds will be available from April through the Co-investment platform. What can we do together with the private sector already now to get this funding? Prepare quality projects. For this purpose we also attract partners to jointly do feasibility study, “- First Deputy Prime Minister said.
She added that attracting investment and financing to Ukraine was also the main topic of negotiations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the London Stock Exchange and TheCityUK, UK Export Finance (UKEF).
“We are working with UKEF to attract investments in the defense sector. We have also opened a GBP3.5bn limit for Ukraine. Several companies have already received insurance, one of them yesterday during our visit to London. We plan to expand cooperation, in particular, we discussed the possibility of insuring suppliers of equipment in the field of military demining,” Sviridenko wrote, in particular.
Ukrposhta JSC’s investments in development in 2024 will amount to about UAH 1.3 billion of its own funds, the company’s CEO Igor Smelyansky said at the Forbes Ukraine Business Breakfast on Wednesday.
According to him, the investments will be directed to the organization of container exchange with the transportation of goods by large-sized transport, due to the growth of parcel shipments. Investments in the creation of container exchange capabilities on the basis of one branch amount to UAH 100 thousand, Smelyansky said.
In addition, in 2024, Ukrposhta plans to buy a letter sorting machine. The machine will sort up to 50 thousand letters per hour using the QR code of an electronic stamp. The unit will be purchased with credit funds, the company’s CEO said.
“Ukrposhta plans to open another 300 post offices in Ukraine “to make the coverage as we want it to be.”
The branches will be opened in Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro, Smelyansky said.
According to him, Ukrposhta will open 18 new sorting facilities in the next four months, and a sorting center in Lviv will start operating in two weeks.
At the same time, Ukrposhta will not develop the oversized cargo business due to the high costs of further delivery of goods related to taxes.
Ukrposhta’s CEO emphasized that the company has not abandoned the idea of acquiring the bank. According to him, the effect of the transfer of PINbank to the company will amount to UAH 5 billion over three years.
“We will reduce budget expenditures on pension delivery by UAH 5 billion over three years,” Smelyansky said.
Italian export credit agency SACE will allocate EUR1.5bn to support trade and financial operations, particularly in the health care and infrastructure sectors.
According to the website of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, this was discussed during the meeting between the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to Ukraine Pier Francesco Dzadzo, where the Ukrainian side urged SACE to strengthen cooperation with Ukraine and expand the types of covered risks.
In addition, the export credit agency intends to support investments of Italian companies in Ukraine and provide export credits, soft loans and direct investments.
First Deputy Prime Minister noted the importance of supporting Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is the backbone of the national economy. She stressed that the Government also expects to intensify cooperation with the Italian Agency for Cooperation Development (AICS) to promote local economic development, job creation and support SMEs.
In addition, the sides discussed the return of Ukrainians. The provision of housing for Ukrainians remains important.
SACE is an Italian export credit agency and an active participant of the largest international organizations in the field of export credit. SACE’s activities are regulated by European Union legislation and the OECD Agreement on Officially Supported Export Credits.
AGENCY, INVESTMENTS, ITALY, Ministries of Economy, trade support
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest Internet provider by subscribers, continues to secure its Home Internet service in case of power outages. In 2023, the company invested more than UAH 200 million to provide uninterruptible power supplies for Home Internet. It will invest an additional UAH 50-70 million by the end of February 2024. The provider also continues to actively launch GPON Internet in different cities of Ukraine.
Kyivstar employees started connecting the Home Internet network to uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) in October 2022 and will continue to do so to provide 700 thousand subscribers with Internet access even in the event of a power outage. This modernization will allow the Home Internet network to operate in the absence of power for up to 5 hours.
In total, the service users will be provided with equipment for uninterrupted operation in 44 cities of Ukraine. In total, the provider plans to cover more than 22.3 thousand addresses where UPS will be installed. 180 specialists are involved in the process of installing, checking and testing equipment throughout Ukraine.
Kyivstar also started connecting the Internet using GPON technology at the end of 2023. In 2024, the company plans to partially modernize and replace existing technologies with GPON in some cities. This connection technology is more energy efficient.
“In the context of short- and medium-term outages, GPON can provide consumers with Internet access for longer, including because we build lines from base stations with mobile diesel generators. And as long as we have the human resources and the ability to supply fuel and components to keep the generator running at the base station, users connected via GPON technology will have the Internet signal,” commented Sergiy Sukhoruk, Head of Fixed Line Communications.
About Kyivstar
Kyivstar is Ukraine’s largest electronic communications operator, serving more than 24 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers as of September 2023. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc. Kyivstar helps subscribers, society and the country to overcome the challenges of wartime. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the company has allocated more than UAH 1.4 billion in aid for the humanitarian needs of the Armed Forces, society and subscribers. Kyivstar’s sole shareholder is the international VEON Group (headquartered in the Netherlands). The Group’s shares are listed on NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam). Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, GPON, Home Internet, INVESTMENTS, KYIVSTAR
The NOVA Group, which includes the largest logistics operator Nova Poshta, invested UAH 5.3 billion in Ukraine in 2023, which is 2.5 times higher than the investment budget for 2022 (UAH 2.1 billion), the group said in a statement on Thursday.
“The level of Nova Poshta’s faith in the future of Ukraine in 2024 is even higher: this year it is planned to increase the amount of investments to UAH 7 billion,” the release said.
According to the release, last year NOVA also increased its tax payments by one and a half times to UAH 10.7 billion. It is specified that, in particular, Nova Poshta paid UAH 8.7 billion in taxes, and NovaPay paid UAH 1.2 billion.
The report indicates that last year, the largest amount of capital investment – UAH 2.4 billion – was directed to the construction of new sorting terminals and automation of those already in operation. It is noted that this allows the company to ensure an uninterrupted delivery process in the face of constant growth in cargo volumes and not lose speed: today the company delivers 1040 parcels every minute, and on peak loading days – 1400.
Another major expense item, according to the release, is the development of the network of branches and post offices for the purpose of walking distance accessibility, in which UAH 1.1 billion was invested. As a result, Nova Poshta’s network in Ukraine already includes more than 27 thousand service points.
Also, the investment budget of UAH 1.2 billion was used to automate workplaces and repair branches to make them convenient and barrier-free for different groups of consumers and employees.
It is specified that in 2023, UAH 233 million was spent on the renewal of the fleet of transport and BDF containers, UAH 338 million on IT and R&D, and UAH 17 million on the development of the fulfillment business.
