President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, called on international investors to become “architects of the success of the new Ukraine.” “Ukraine should become an investment mecca of Eastern and Central Europe. The main driver for economic development is the ability to make profit. And we are one of the few countries that now allows earning such a high return on invested capital. Today we are underinvested and disliked,” he said.
Zelensky called on investors to invest in Ukraine.
“Today, the pragmatic and petrified world is sorely lacking a miracle. And the world economy, which is on the verge of a new global crisis, needs an economic miracle. Ukraine is exactly the place where miracles happen. And my goal is to make Ukraine appear in textbooks next to the cases of Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Therefore, join in!” he said.
The president pointed out that the new Ukrainian authorities are creating equal rules of the game for everyone, cleansing the judicial system, digitalizing processes, implementing vital reforms and adopting vital laws.
“We have everything to become a successful country. Favorable climatic conditions, a very favorable geographic location, an inexhaustible agricultural and industrial potential, and our most valuable resource are incredibly creative and very talented people who are in the top 50 in the Human Capital Index rating,” he noted.
Capital investment in Ukraine in January-September 2019 grew by 12.4%, while in the first half of 2019 – by 12.3%, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to the State Statistics Service, in January-September 2019, UAH 379 billion of capital investment was disbursed (excluding the temporarily occupied Crimea, Sevastopol and the JFO area).
In the regional context, the largest increase in capital investment January-September 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 was recorded in Volyn (by 71.1%), Kherson (by 44.2%), Mykolaiv (by 34.7%), Poltava (by 29.3%), Kyiv (by 27.1%), and Dnipropetrovsk ( in 21.8%) regions.
According to statistics, capital investments for the reporting period decreased in Zakarpattia (by 15.3%), Vinnytsia (by 9.8%), Odesa and Chernihiv (by 8.6%), and Rivne (4.4%) regions.
In the industrial context, the largest increase in capital investment in the first nine months of this year was recorded in the field of research and development – by 79%, temporary accommodation and catering – by 67.5%, water transport – by 50.6%, advertising – by 44, 2%, professional scientific and technical activities – by 43.8%.
At the same time, in the field of postal and courier activities, the drop in capital investments amounted to 81.1%, information and telecommunications – 23.4%, agriculture, forestry and fisheries – 11.3%.
The main source of financing capital investment remains the own funds of enterprises and organizations, due to which 73.4% of the total volume of all investments has been used.
A significant share of capital investments was made in machinery, equipment and vehicles – 46.3%, buildings and structures – 45.6% of all investments.
IT company with Ukrainian roots Grammarly has raised a $90 million investment led by General Catalyst, which also led its investment round in 2017 with $110 million, with participation from other existing investors including IVP, and new investors, the company has said in a press release.
Since the first round of investments in May 2017, Grammarly has more than tripled the number of users and has added a number of updates to its product, which, according to a press release, “helps more than 20 million people every day.”
The company also opened its fourth office in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) and doubled the number of team members in offices of Kyiv, New York and San Francisco. It plans in the near future to expand the current office space in Kyiv by additional 1,300 square meters where 130 people can work.
According to the report, the funds raised by Grammarly will be aimed at further expanding the company’s product coverage in order to make it available wherever written communication in English can be used. The company will also continue working on more complex aspects of language and communication, in particular on the development of the recently launched tone detector, to provide users with practical advice on how to adapt it.
Grammarly was founded by Kyiv residents in 2009: Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko and Dmytro Lider. The offices of the company are located in Kyiv, San Francisco, New York and Vancouver.
Investment of human capital in national wealth in Ukraine is much lower than in European countries, according to a report of the World Bank.
According to the World Bank’s study of the sphere of education in Ukraine, investment of human capital into national wealth in Ukraine is 34% of total national wealth. For comparison, in low-income countries this indicator is 41%, in Europe and Central Asia – 62%, and on average around the world – 64%.
The World Bank said that in Ukraine the percentage of people with higher education is more than 80%, which exceeds the figures of the EU (68%) and countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (74%), but the level of functional literacy among adults is behind indicators of these countries.
In addition, it is said that in Ukraine, there is a gap between education and employment, especially among young university graduates.
Other areas of concern include: unequal access to schooling, a gap in education among students in urban and rural schools, and less likely that graduates from rural schools will go to higher education (40% of graduates from rural schools compared to 70% of graduates in cities).
The World Bank said that about 50% of Ukrainians do not believe that secondary education provides everyone with the same opportunity of studying for free, and 70% believe that corruption in higher education is very common.
At the same time, according to the World Bank, Ukraine spends 6% of GDP on education, which is significantly more than in OECD countries (4.4%).
Among other things, the World Bank said that Ukraine has a too wide network of schools and universities, which is one of the reasons for the high level of expenses. There are 11 students per teacher in Ukraine, and in the OECD countries this indicator averages 13.1.
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, HUMAN CAPITAL, INVESTMENT, NATIONAL WEALTH
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Uber Technologies Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York and discussed the prospects of increasing capital investment of the company in Ukraine with him.
“During the meeting, the parties discussed a number of issues regarding Uber’s activities in Ukraine, as well as the prospects of increasing the company’s investments in our country,” the press service of the head of state reported.
Zelensky informed Khosrowshahi of the implementation of the reform policy aimed at improving the business climate in Ukraine and creating favorable conditions for attracting foreign investments.
In addition, the use of environment friendly vehicles in Ukraine by Uber was discussed during the meeting.
Investment of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) this year exceeded $1 billion, EBRD Vice President Alain Pilloux has said. This week, by coincidence, the bank’s investments in the country in 2019 exceeded $1 billion. And by the end of the year, the EBRD is going to invest even more, he said at a meeting with reporters on Thursday.
This amount may not be enough, but this is clearly not a small amount of investment in the country, Pilloux said.
He also added that he had visited Ukraine six times over the past year. Pilloux said that the EBRD knows Ukraine “in detail:” the EBRD is working not only in Kyiv, but in all regions. The bank is working with cities, Ukrainian companies, he said. Pilloux said that they are not the kind of people who arrive from London or other places and look at Ukraine from windows of five-star hotels.
