Potato producer Central Plains Group Ukraine (CPG) intends to build a waste-free potato processing plant in Hlyniany (Lviv region) with a capacity of 40,000-50,000 tonnes per year.
This is stated in a posting on the website of the Lviv Regional State Administration.
“We grow potatoes and cooperate with the Frito-Lay company, which produces chips. Now every sixth pack of chips of this company is made from our potatoes, and in general, this is every tenth pack in Ukraine. Ambitious plans are that every fourth pack in Ukraine was from our potatoes,” member of the Board of Directors and a representative of the Finnish Investment Fund Oleh Drin said.
According to the administration, investors from CPG Ukraine and Governor Maksym Kozytsky discussed the working aspects of the project, in particular the permits for the construction of a potato processing plant. CPG also discussed the possibility of repairing the Zastavne-Hlyniany road in 2021 with the regional administration.
The administration said that the company, founded by a group of farmers from the U.K. and Finland, plans to invest about $7 million in a project for waste-free processing of potatoes (including starch) and create about 50 jobs.
“For the profitable operation of the plant there is a great need for raw materials. We plan to establish cooperation with local farmers and build an effective process for growing and supplying raw materials to the plant. We plan to cooperate with USAID on the development of farming and in the future to establish a process for purchasing potatoes from farmers,” Drin said.
According to the administration, CPG in 2020 grew 15,000 tonnes of potatoes in Kamianka-Buzka and Sambir districts of Lviv region on a total area of 700 hectares.
Last year, the company put into operation the first stage of potato storage facility with a capacity of 11,000 tonnes with refrigeration equipment. This year, CPG plans to build a second stage of the potato storage facility with a similar capacity.
Foreigners and stateless persons who have invested over $100,000 in enterprises established by them in Ukraine will have the opportunity to apply for an immigration permit in Ukraine.
The relevant resolution was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on Wednesday without discussion, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent said.
According to the draft document posted on the government’s website, such investments must be confirmed by a certificate from the bank on the receipt of such an amount to the immigrant’s investment account and its use for foreign investment in the Ukrainian economy. Or a bank certificate on the transfer of such an amount to the current account of the enterprise from the personal foreign account of the immigrant.
In turn, the State Migration Service of Ukraine, in accordance with the document, checks in the bank before making a decision whether these investments have not been returned.
In addition, the government has included persons who have served in the Armed Forces for more than three years in the list of those who are subject to immigration quota and who are eligible to apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
German investors believe that the main problem in Ukraine is not corruption, but the work of the judicial branch of power, German Ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen has said.
“What German investors really need is the same rules for everyone. What always scares our investors is bad examples when even large German companies in Ukraine are under pressure from law enforcement agencies, like the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The reason for this is not clear to us. Companies just want to work quietly in Ukraine, to give jobs and make a profit. This is closely related to the judicial reform. Our investors tell me that corruption is no longer such a big problem,” the ambassador said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to her, in order to attract German small and medium-sized businesses to Ukraine, they need to be given good examples that they can invest in Ukraine and be calm.
“When I used to work in Ukraine, there was always the issue of VAT refund, now it is not. Now the problem is the possibility that competitors go to court for completely incomprehensible reasons, and for large German companies it is still possible, because they have lawyers, money and time. Very often they win lawsuits, but it lasts a long time. The German economy is a medium and small business, and in order to attract them to Ukraine, they need to give them good examples that they can invest in Ukraine and be calm,” Feldhusen said.
At the same time, the ambassador said that a German pharmaceutical company recently bought the Biopharma plant in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region. “This is a good example, because it did not happen in Kyiv, not in Kharkiv, not in Dnipro. This is a small city and it will be good for people,” she said.
“Another example is the Kostal company, which produces automotive electronics. They are already working in Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky, and now they are opening a plant near Boryspil (both cities are located in Kyiv region). In this case, the question was about connecting the plant to the infrastructure. It is not at all clear why it was so difficult. They solved it with the help of the Ukrainian government. There will be a new plant and many new jobs,” the ambassador said.
Feldhusen said that German business has a desire to invest in Ukraine, only more good examples are lacking.
The founders of Nova Poshta, Viacheslav Klimov and Volodymyr Popereshniuk, have become investors in the Kooperativ co-working space, which was opened at the end of 2019 in Kyiv’s Paladis business center at 23 Sichovykh Striltsiv Street (in the building of the former book factory Zhovten).
The creators of the project are Andriy Fedoriv, the founder of Fedoriv Group and Fedoriv Agency, Vasyl Grogol, the founder of Bursa hotel, and an entrepreneur from France.
“Somehow at the beginning of summer, the guys came to a meeting at Fedoriv Agency and saw how cool the completed Kooperativ had turned out. We started a long conversation, the result of which was the decision – Slava and Volodia will acquire part of the project’s shares and join Vasyl Grogol and me as partners,” Fedoriv wrote on his Facebook page.
According to him, in the future, the partners will work on the development of the Kooperativ co-working space together.
“The first step will be the integration into Kooperativ of our legendary space in the Arena [Arena City business center] with an area of about 1,000 square meters. Fedorivhub will become Kooperativ Hub from September 1, and the former Fedoriv office will become a co-working space for about 100 residents … Despite a difficult year, it shows good results and as an operating company we are already expanding,” Fedoriv said.
Africa will be in the limelight of the renewed Council of Exporters and Investors under the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ukraine, said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba adding that development of cooperation with the African states was one of the priorities of the foreign policy of Ukraine. “Only few days ago, we launched the Council of Exporters and Investors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It now unites 120 leading Ukrainian export-oriented companies. The purpose of this agency is to simplify trade and investment between nations, and Africa will be in the limelight of this Council,” he said in a video address on the occasion of Africa Day posted on ministry’s Twitter on Monday.
Kuleba said that Ukrainian companies were already exporting grain, drinks, meat, equipment and machinery to the African countries. “The IT sector is one of the most promising in our relations,” the minister added.
He emphasized that one of the priorities of Ukraine’s foreign policy was the development of cooperation with the African states.
“Good relations between us symbolize the great prospects of our cooperation and will lead our nations to prosperity and a better life,” he explained.
According to Kuleba, now 20,000 students from Africa are studying in Ukraine, and Ukraine will be glad to see more of them.
“I’m glad that more and more Africans are choosing Ukraine for higher education. Currently, 20,000 students from the African countries are studying in our country, and we welcome more,” said the foreign minister.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not in favor of hasty and ill-conceived retrospective amendments to legislation that worsen the condition for doing business in the country, the head of state said at a briefing in Vilnius on Wednesday after a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.
“I want to confirm once again: my team and I will not take any hasty and ill-conceived steps related to retrospective changes in our legislation that would worsen the conditions for doing business in the country,” Zelensky said.
“We respect any investor who already works in our country. This applies to everyone, regardless of sector and business, from a restaurant to the green energy sector,” the president added.
He said that the second Lithuanian solar power plant was opened in Ivano-Frankivsk region on Wednesday (the plant of Lithuania’s Modus Grupe with a capacity of 14 MW in the village of Zalukva).
“It’s pleasant that Lithuanian companies not only stay on the Ukrainian market, but also continue developing investment projects,” Zelensky said.
According to him, Ukraine expects the boost of investment activities.
“We are betting on improving the mechanisms of public private partnership, which is one of the tools to attract additional investment in the public sector of the economy,” the head of state said, recalling the recently adopted law on concession.
