The holding company UFuture intends to invest $20 million in the creation of industrial parks in Lviv, Vinnitsa and Bucha, UFuture founder Vasily Khmelnitsky said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“I am considering plots for industrial parks, meeting with mayors. In Lvov and Vinnytsia, plots of 15 hectares, in Bucha – 20 hectares. In total (estimated investment) may be $ 20 million,” Khmelnitsky said.
In his opinion, these starting areas are too compact.
“Why is this not enough? What is 15 hectares? This is approximately 8-10 factories. And when you have built 10 factories and everything is fine there, then every year the place becomes even more attractive. An investor comes there who is satisfied with security and benefits, wants to build plant, and you already have nothing. Therefore, industrial parks need to be produced on areas of 100-200 hectares, but, unfortunately, there are not very many such sites, “Khmelnitsky said.
Regarding the sources of capital in the conditions of war, he said that he was counting on his own and credit resources.
“Today, almost nothing works for me, but I still have something, because I’m a rather big businessman. I met with a bank, which also has a difficult situation, we agreed that I would pay 50% on loans. “I’ll take some more loans from the bank. There are programs of 5, 10, 7%, this is set for economic growth, I think we need to give some soft loans,” Khmelnytsky said.
The full text of the interview with Vasily Khmelnytsky is published on the main page of the website of the Interfax-Ukraine agency
Projects of modernization to the European standard of the track from the border to Lviv and Kovel are described in the National Transport Strategy and require more than $ 75 million investment, said former Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine for European Integration Viktor Dovgan to Interfax-Ukraine.
As reported, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal at a government meeting on Tuesday said that Ukraine will begin to gradually move to the European track to connect the Ukrainian railway with the EU, first connecting large hubs and large cities, and then gradually expanding across the country .
“Investments in such a large-scale project are unlikely, because 1 km of the European road – 1 million euros plus rolling stock. It is necessary to make short connections Lviv, Mukachevo, Chernivtsi and transfer. It is important to take an action plan of the National Transport Strategy. it is unrealistic to make a European track to Kyiv or Odessa at this stage, “Dovgan commented.
It will be recalled that in the Investment Atlas published by the Cabinet of Ministers at the end of 2020, two potential sections with the European standard of 1435 mm gauge were presented: Sknilov-Mostiska and Kovel-Yagodin-State Border.
The estimated cost of the Sknilov-Mostiska modernization project is $ 20.8 million, Kovel – Yagodin – State Border – $ 54.2 million.
In February 2022, Lviv OVA announced that within the framework of the presidential program “Big Construction” this year work will begin on the restoration of the 8-km Goskolitsa-Rava-Russkaya Eurorail, which they intend to implement within two years.
BORDER, EUROPEAN RAILWAY TRACK, INVESTMENT, LVIV, MODERNIZATION, КОВЕЛЬ
Vasyl Khmelnytsky, the founder of the UFuture holding, is considering the creation of an industrial park on the territory of the Syhnivka industrial zone in Lviv for the relocation of Ukrainian enterprises.
“We are considering the option of creating an industrial park here [in Lviv] so that our production facilities do not go abroad, but remain in Ukraine and create jobs in our country,” the entrepreneur said on Facebook after a meeting with Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy on Tuesday.
According to Khmelnytsky, the possibility of implementing the project is currently being discussed.
UFuture is a holding company that brings together Khmelnytsky’s business and social projects. It has a diversified portfolio of assets in real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and IT. The value of UFuture’s assets is estimated at $500 million. The total capitalization of the businesses in which it has invested is up to $1 billion.
Humanitarian medical aid has arrived for health care institutions of Lviv region from Germany, some of the medicines are provided for the needs of other regions of Ukraine, said head of the Lviv Regional Administration Maksym Kozytsky.
“About six tonnes of medical humanitarian aid from Germany were received in Lviv region. These are insulins of different types and hemostatic. For distribution, the cargo was sent to one of the pharmacy warehouses of the region,” he wrote on the Telegram channel on Wednesday morning.
According to Kozytsky, four health care institutions of Lviv region, two of which are children’s, will receive part of the medicines. The other part will be stored in a warehouse for further needs of both Lviv region and other regions of Ukraine.
He also added that the medicines were collected in different cities of Germany and sent from the hospital of the German city of Regensburg called Merciful Brothers on a centralized basis. They organized a fundraiser for the purchase of medical rubber aid by Dr. Hubertus von Voss and Michelle Merter.
Kozytsky also said that charity concerts are being held throughout Germany, and for the proceeds from them they plan to buy another batch of medicine.
“The flow of aid to Lviv region was facilitated by the NGO Let’s Protect Ukraine Together,” said the head of the Regional Administration.
The hotel operator Ribas Hotels Group (Odesa) has preliminary agreements with developers to expand the network of WOL apart-hotels by opening new facilities in Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa in the next 2-3 years.
As Artur Lupashko, founder of Ribas Hotels Group, told Interfax-Ukraine, according to preliminary agreements with developers, WOL and WOL Black apart-hotels with a total area of more than 20,000 square meters will be implemented in Lviv.
“We also have preliminary agreements to launch WOL apart-hotels in Kyiv and Kharkiv in the next two or three years,” he said.
In addition, it is planned to carry out repair work in the Odesa complex of Aura apartments with the aim of launching an apart-hotel in 2023.
“In addition, two more projects in Kyiv, two projects in Lviv, projects in Uzhgorod, Poltava and Mykolaiv are at the stage of active negotiations with developers,” Lupashko shared his plans.
Ribas Hotels Group is also partnering with developer Asgard in the Duck’s Lake apartment project in Lviv, work on which will start this year.
KHARKIV, KYIV, LVIV, ODESA, RIBAS HOTELS
The NATO leadership has decided to transfer the personnel of its Ukrainian mission to Lviv and Brussels in connection with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Oksana Musiyenko, press officer of the NATO Information and Documentation Centre, told Suspilne.
“NATO and allied countries are monitoring and assessing the situation very closely and continue to take all necessary measures. The safety of our personnel is a top priority, so the personnel have been transferred to Lviv and Brussels,” Musiyenko said.
At the same time, she noted that NATO offices in Ukraine continue to work.
