Investments in the construction sector of Ukraine in the next three years could reach $2 billion, the founder and president of City One Development, Valeriy Kodetsky, told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on the results of CC Forum Monaco Global Investment in Sustainable Development held in July.
“The world business positively evaluates the initiated reforms in the construction sector of Ukraine. However, the main measure will be not only nominal reform, but its real effectiveness. Forum participants predict that Ukraine will be able to attract up to $2 billion in the next three years with an annual progress of up to 20%,” Kodetsky, who was the only representative of Ukraine at this event, said.
According to the expert, the participants of the CC Forum estimated the investment potential of the Ukrainian construction industry at no less than $50 billion. At the same time, “powerful foreign investors” are primarily interested in the creation of new factories and production facilities, participation in large infrastructure projects and the implementation of projects in the commercial and residential real estate segments.
One of the important directions for the development of domestic development, according to Kodetsky, may be the reorientation of business processes towards the creation of a high-tech closed cycle for the production of modern construction equipment and materials that correspond to global trends in environmental safety and energy conservation.
“Thanks to foreign partners, for 10 years Ukraine can fully provide itself with everything necessary not only for the development of the construction sector, it is capable of reaching a new technological level. This is primarily about setting up the production of building materials through the introduction of energy-saving environmental technologies,” he said.
According to the expert, the annual demand of the Ukrainian market for float glass is more than 100 million square meters and almost 100% is covered by imports, and 80% of this volume is used in the construction sector.
Kodetsky said that in the near future, thanks to foreign investors, the construction of a float glass plant could begin, which could potentially satisfy up to 30% of the domestic construction market. The volume of foreign investments in this production could be more than $80 million with a payback period of five or six years. The profitability of the plant will be over 30%.
According to his forecasts, over the next two years, the growth of float glass production may reach 3-5% annually. The expert said that the estimated cost of domestic float glass will be 15-20% lower than exported, which will allow developers to redirect the released funds to improve the quality of construction projects, increase the level of builders’ wages, etc.
“The establishment of high-tech closed production processes will reduce the cost of building materials by 25-30%. Part of these costs can go to improve the quality of projects in various segments of real estate,” he said.
At the same time, the expert drew attention to the fact that effective reforms in construction will significantly reduce the “corruption burden” on developers, and the released financial resources could be reassigned to social responsibility programs, as well as to increase salaries in the construction sector.
“According to our calculations, salaries in construction as one of the main driving spheres of the Ukrainian economy in the next two years may grow by at least 30-40%,” Kodetsky said.
The president of City One Development recalled that now more than 1 million of our fellow citizens are forced to work in the construction sphere in Eastern Europe. Moreover, the “net” earnings of a builder, depending on qualifications, are on average 30-40% higher than in Ukraine. He believes that an increase in wages by at least a third can return up to 200,000-300,000 compatriots to the domestic construction market.
“The development of construction now depends on the effectiveness of the implemented reforms and the creation of opportunities for attracting foreign investment. It is the construction sector that can become a driving force for sustainable economic and social development of our state,” Kodetsky said.
In turn, Tetiana Shulha-Zabelska, Managing Partner of the Residential Estate Development Community (RED Community), said in a commentary that the main goal of the CC Forum was to determine the main directions of sustainable development of society and business in the face of the existing challenges of counteracting global diseases and epidemics, changes climate, migration and the like.
“As for the investment attractiveness of Ukraine, global business leaders almost unanimously consider Ukraine one of the countries with the greatest development potential and attractive for long-term investments,” she said.
According to Shulha-Zabelska, most of the investments (more than 40%) will be spent on the development of large-scale projects to create technology parks and facilities for the production of modern building materials. About 35% of the funds raised can go to infrastructure facilities, and 25% of investments will directly relate to commercial and residential real estate projects.
“The Ukrainian strategy for attracting foreign funds should be inextricably linked to global trends in sustainable development, the implementation of global trends in the construction industry, an increase in jobs with an increase in the income of citizens of the country,” she said.
City One Development is an investment and development company that provides a range of services in the field of creation and development of real estate facilities.
Founded in 2017, the RED Community brings together over 30 leading residential developers.
Naftogaz and event organiser dmg events announced the launch of a major gas sector event in Ukraine. The Ukraine Gas Investment Congress, taking place from 20-22 October 2021 under the patronage of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine and with the support of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, will bring together industry leaders from around the world to discuss energy transition, technology, and industry transformation, along with key trade flows and delivery strategies.
The event is ideally timed to address Ukraine’s efforts to strengthen links with the European Union and achieve energy independence by 2030. As the importance of European energy security increases, the event will provide a platform for government ministers, energy industry leaders, investors, and technology innovators to examine opportunities to modernise Ukraine’s resources.
These are quickly becoming an attractive investment proposition, with attendees able to consider a well-developed midstream infrastructure that facilitates the monetization of new developments at scale, asset backed trading, and extensive Europe export potential, with the largest underground storage capacity in Europe and transit capacity of 90bcm.
The Energy Strategy of Ukraine 2035 aims to create a highly competitive energy market which encourages foreign direct investment and underpins rapid infrastructure development and integration with the EU’s systems. The Gas Investment Congress provides a forum for value-add partners to contribute capital and technological expertise to secure growth opportunities and financial returns.
Naftogaz СЕО Yuriy Vitrenko said: “Ukraine, and with it Naftogaz, have a key role to play in providing energy security for Europe. With the second largest gas reserves on the continent, Ukraine has the single largest growth opportunity in natural gas production in the EU. As the Gas Investment Congress shows, the investment opportunities in the gas sector are enormous.”
Christopher Hudson, President of Global Energy, dmg events, commented, “We very much look forward to joining forces with Naftogaz to host this event in Ukraine. By bringing together energy industry leaders, policy makers and investors, the Ukrainian Gas Investment Congress will present Ukraine’s natural gas opportunities and attractive investment climate to the world.”
Anyone wishing to attend can register their interest at:
https://www.ukrainegasinvestmentcongress.com/register-your-interest-to-attend/
ENDS
About Naftogaz:
State-owned Naftogaz is the largest national oil and gas company of Ukraine, owning 38,000 km of gas pipelines and 30 billion cubic metres of storage capacity. Naftogaz’s strategy of hydrocarbon resource base development aims to double Ukraine’s gas reserves in the next 10 years.
About dmg :: events:
dmg is one of the leading global event organisers, working across several key industries. Its energy portfolio includes some of the biggest events in the sector, such as Gastech, ADIPEC, and the Global Energy Show.
For media enquiries, contact:
jpryanykova@be-it.com.ua / +38 098 3099953 – Julia Pryanykova
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Today, on July 30, Deputy Economy Minister of Ukraine Iryna Novikova met with the founder of Welfare Investment Alliance consulting company, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Ukraine (2012-2019) Alisher Abdualiev.
The Deputy Minister of Economy expressed hope for the further strengthening of relations between the two countries and stressed that creating comfortable conditions for doing business and implementing new investment projects is an extremely important step for enhancing investment cooperation between the states.
“Today Ukraine is interested in attracting investments and therefore is actively introducing new legislative initiatives. We see a great demand from investors for industrial parks and a new mechanism to support investors in attracting investments, the so-called law on ‘investment nannies’,” Novikova said.
During the meeting, the participants discussed the prospects and possibilities of creating a simplified access to the markets of the countries, a favorable environment for the implementation of joint projects and attracting investments.
So, among the promising industries for cooperation between the two countries is the aviation industry, as well as the implementation of projects to create livestock complexes and silk production in Ukraine.
The metallurgical industry will play a key role in achieving Ukraine’s carbon neutrality, according to representatives of the largest Ukrainian metallurgical companies speaking during the international forum “Decarbonization of the Steel Industry: a Challenge for Ukraine” taking place in Kyiv.
According to a press release from GMK Center, the ambitious plans of the EU and the United States to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 are putting pressure on Ukrainian metallurgical companies. To compete successfully on foreign markets, Ukrainian producers also need to have CO2 reduction targets and decarbonization strategies.
“Now Metinvest is developing a detailed roadmap to reduce CO2 emissions. We are very careful in working out each step that will eventually lead our production to carbon neutrality, because such a large-scale transformation should not harm the sustainability of our business. We hope to conclude partnerships today, which will allow us to follow the path of decarbonization,” CEO of Metinvest Group Yuriy Ryzhenkov said during the event.
During the forum, Metinvest signed two memorandums of cooperation for the implementation of joint projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of them was signed with Primetals Technologies – an international company providing a full range of technologies, products and services for the metallurgical industry, the other – with K1-MET – a leading Austrian research center in metallurgy.
The press release notes that Ukraine actively declares its intention to follow the direction of decarbonization. In January 2020, the country presented the Green Energy Transition Concept, which sets a goal to achieve a carbon neutral economy by 2070.
In April 2021, the government presented the draft of the second Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris agreement. It assumes that Ukraine by 2030 will reduce CO2 emissions by 65% compared to 1990, in particular industrial enterprises – by 61%.
The investment company UMG Investments from SCM Group of Rinat Akhmetov has received a mandate to carry out two or three investments annually of up to $10 million each as a minority partner, SCM Head Oleh Popov has said.
“UMG Investments is ready for any partnerships – they have a mandate to enter projects as minority shareholders, and make investments up to $10 million … per transaction. They should bring 2-3 such transactions per year,” he said in an interview with Ekonomichna Pravda.
According to Popov, the main criteria are potential and innovativeness, but SCM has expectations for the return of these investments, but he did not specify the minimum profitability.
The head of the group recalled that in addition to new third-party projects, UMG Investments, headed by Andriy Gorokhov and Nadiya Kaznacheyeva, is also looking for additional projects with high profitability at all SCM industrial assets, including waste treatment.
As an example of implemented investments, Popov named the production of protein feed additives for animals Feednova with partners from the Effective Investments group of companies and Dutch-based Mada Participations B.V., the Ukrainian Mineral Fertilizers enterprise for the production of ammonium sulfate, projects for the coherent utilization of coal mine methane and the construction of a grain terminal.
As reported, at the end of March this year, Gorokhov confirmed the strategic plans for further investment in Ukraine, estimating the volume of UMG Investments’ investments at over $40 million annually.
The volume of investments in real estate in the capital amounted to $32.87 million in March, 2021, which is 10% more than in February 2021, Director of Blagovist Real Estate Agency (Kyiv) Olena Biberova told Interfax-Ukraine.
“In March, the market activity was high, there were a lot of applications for the selection of houses for purchase. The greatest demand is observed for apartments with renovation in new buildings. The demand for the purchase of non-residential properties is not very active yet, the business has taken a wait-and-see attitude, and a deferred demand is being formed. There is a gradual rise in prices within 5%,” she said.
According to Biberova, in March the main number of transactions fell on apartments, and about 10% of the total – for houses.
The segment up to $50,000 in March took 14% of the total number of transactions. In this category, mainly one-, two-room apartments were purchased, most of all in Dniprovsky, Darnytsky, Holosiyivsky districts of the capital. Apartment deals accounted for the bulk.
Biberova said that the most affordable option purchased in March was a one-room apartment with an area of 22 square meters worth $23,000 on Shepeleva Street (Solomiansky district). A one-room apartment with an area of 31 square meters on Berezniakivska Street (Dniprovsky district) was sold for $41,000 and on Maksymovycha Street (Holosiyivsky district) – a one-room apartment with an area of 37 square meters in a new house was sold for $50,000.
In the segment from $50,000 to $100,000, some 42% of transactions were carried out, two-, three-room apartments in Solomiansky and Darnytsky districts of Kyiv prevail. So, on Nauky Avenue (Holosiyivsky district), a one-room apartment with an area of 25 square meters was sold for $52,000; on Naberezhno-Rybalska Street (Podilsky district) – a one-room apartment with an area of 50 square meters was sold for $75,000; and on Antonovycha Street (Holosiyivsky district) – a three-room apartment with an area of 72 square meters was sold for $100,000.
The price category from $250,000 in March is represented by 5% of the total volume of transactions. So, on Hrushevskoho Street (Pechersky District) an apartment with an area of 87 square meters was bought for $254,000, and an apartment with an area of 106 square meters on John McCain Street (Pechersky district) was bought for $355,000.
“The most expensive object sold in March is an apartment with an area of 203 square meters on Instytutska Street [Pechersky District] worth $1 million,” Biberova said.
Blagovist Real Estate Agency, part of the First Realty Group corporation, was established in 1993. Today, there are eight agency offices in Kyiv, with which about 500 professional real estate consultants cooperate.
