German business met with the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal
On May 27, the representatives of German business discussed with the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal topical issues of investing in Ukraine and current investment projects of German companies in Ukraine. “We are ready to cooperate and absolutely open. We are reforming our economy, our business regulation sector, we hope that the environment will only improve year after year and German business will feel it,” Denys Shmyhal assured. The meeting was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine Ms. Anka Feldhuzen, Chairman of the Board of the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Alexander Markus, government officials and leading German companies operating in Ukraine for a long time. The UkraineInvest team was happy to lead the organization of the meeting and establish an effective dialogue between government and business.
8 subsoil lots were auctioned: the price for licenses sold exceeded UAH 32 million
The State Service of Geology and Subsoil (SSGS) held an auction via the Prozorro public procurement platform and sold permits for the subsoil use of 8 lots with deposits of amber, clay, granite, groundwater, sandstone, quartz sand, koalin and pegmatite. The price for licenses sold exceeded the amount of UAH 32 million. Zhubrovytske granite deposit showed the biggest increase in license cost – 23 times. While the highest price of the permit was at Bila amber deposit – UAH 17 million. All the lots for the bidding were nominated by subsoil users themselves, which proves the increasing investment attractiveness of the extractive industry, says Roman Opimakh, head of the SSGS. The next bids for six oil & gas acreages are scheduled June 6th. More information about the auctions – https://bit.ly/2TKaF4v
Risoil S.A. acquires Boconti Ukraine in the port of Chornomorsk
Risoil SA was granted permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to acquire a stake in Boconti Ukraine. The company envisages investing $20 million in the equipment of technological lines to expand transshipment and storage capacity for both import and export cargo. Additionally, Risoil plans to increase the number of staff to 250 people. In April 2020, Risoil acquired the equity rights of TK Exim Oil in the Chornomorsk port in the Odesa region. Risoil is focused on the logistics of vegetable oils, bulk and general cargoes in the ports of the Black Sea, sale and production of vegetable oils, trade-in grain crops and oilseed, transshipment, storage and processing of agro-industrial products.
Ukraine has jumped into the top-30 startup ecosystems worldwide
According to the recently released Startup Ecosystem Rankings 2020, Ukraine has strengthened its positions and made it to the top-30. Kyiv is ranked 32 globally and became the European hub by taking 8th place among the European cities, which proves how strong the local startup ecosystem in Ukraine is. Seven Ukrainian cities were ranked in the report and Dnipro appeared for the first time in the rating. A highly professional IT labor pool is the reason for Ukraine’s success. Many foreign companies choose Ukrainian developers to work either remotely or in local centers. Ukraine’s startup ecosystem is buzzing with innovation and gave the impetus to such global startups like Ajax, Competera, Grammarly, MacPaw, People.ai, Preply, Petcube. Download full report https://bit.ly/2TFtZ36
The number of IT entrepreneurs increased by 22% in 2019
In 2019 the number of IT entrepreneurs increased by 22% and reached 183,000 compared to 151,000 in 2018. The most popular types of activities among IT entrepreneurs are computer programming, IT consulting services, data processing. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk regions showed the fastest growth in the numbers of IT entrepreneurs. Ukraine offers the largest IT labor pool in Europe with over 16,000 IT and 130,000 engineering graduates annually. The IT industry has grown by nearly 40 times over the last fifteen years from $110 million in 2003 to about $4.5 billion in 2018. This growth has already allowed IT to emerge as Ukraine’s third-largest export behind agriculture and metallurgy.
▪️ Venture capital investments into Ukrainian startups reached a half-billion mark in 2019.
▪️ The volume of TOP-10 transactions has almost doubled to $ 456 million.
▪️ M&A transactions increased 18 times and reached $ 469 million.
▪️ Ukraine’s investment attractiveness is enhancing for international investors. 83% of current investors are expecting new private equity or venture capital funds to emerge in Ukraine.
The full report released by UVCA on venture investments in the Ukrainian IT sector in 2019 – https://bit.ly/36BsBUe
French Leroy Merlin opened a new store in Kyiv
Leroy Merlin Ukraine, developing the DIY hypermarket chain of the French brand Leroy Merlin, opened a new store in Kyiv. A new shop in Retroville mall has become the sixth in Ukraine. Leroy Merlin plans to enhance digitally, develop online sales as well as the options for the fast and effective delivery of the products. The company considers reducing the area of its stores, in particular, the new shop decreased in its size compared to others. However, such a cutback won’t affect the assortment, diversity, and quantity of the products due to the efficient logistics and increase in online sales, according to Leroy Merlin Ukraine. Leroy Merlin is one of the biggest European DIY retailers with 465 hypermarkets in 14 countries worldwide. The company started its business in Ukraine in 2010 and since then opened five stores in Kyiv and one in Odesa.
Ukraine sold over UAH 1 billion worth of government bonds
On May 26, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine sold 3-, 6-, and 12-month maturity period hryvnia denominated bonds worth in total over UAH 1 billion. The average weighted yields have been decreased and stand at 10.19% for 3-month bonds, and 10.33% for 6-month bonds. Ukraine’s government had a few successful past weeks in selling government bonds. Last week more than UAH 21 billion was attracted to the state budget.
SkyUp Airlines to open handling department at Boryspil Airport
Ukrainian airline SkyUP is getting ready to launch its own handling department at Boryspil Airport to improve the quality of the services provided to the passengers. Before the pandemic amid COVID-19, British The Anker Report ranked the airline among the most dynamic airlines in Europe by route network growth during 2018-2019. In 2019 SkyUp operated almost 11 thousand flights (110% y-o-y increase), carrying over 1,7 million passengers (98% y-o-y increase). During the quarantine, SkyUp has already completed nearly 250 irregular commercial special flights and cargo flights with medical supplies.
