Business news from Ukraine

ZHYTOMYR, TERNOPIL, HLUKHIV SEEKING INVESTORS TO IMPLEMENT INVESTMENT PROJECTS

18 May , 2016  

KYIV. May 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The mayors of Zhytomyr, Ternopil and Hlukhiv (Sumy region) have invigorated efforts to attract foreign investors to implement investment projects in their cities.

“We are well aware that during this [crisis] time it is impossible to count on any significant financial investment on the part of the state, therefore another option is to work with foreign investors,” Ternopil Mayor Serhiy Nadal said at an investment conference in Kyiv.

Zhytomyr Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlyn said the city plans in 2016 to raise $50 million for implementation of different small projects.

“$50 million is very little for us. These are the projects that allow Zhytomyr to survive. Unfortunately, we are not talking about large-scale infrastructure projects,” he said.

According to him, in particular, this is the construction of four thermal plants using biofuel: two of the projects, funded by Austrian and Swedish investors, are to be implemented in 2016. In addition, Chinese investors are interested in the projects: a framework agreement on cooperation has been signed with them. The project of building a hydroelectric power plant is being implemented together with Swedish investors in the current year. In addition, there are projects to construct four boiler rooms in schools for a total of $500,000.

According to the Zhytomyr mayor, loan and grant agreements worth EUR65 million have been signed over the past year and a half, of which EUR28 million was used for the development of heating systems and EUR26 million for water supply systems.

At the same time, he said the budget for the development of Zhytomyr for this year is $10 million, which is very little for a city with the population of 272,000 people.