The Financial Times has dedicated an analytical piece to the rise of investment attractiveness of western Ukraine.
FT journalists note the hike of investment and new jobs in the city of Lviv and Lviv region.
“All our tenders are open to western companies, who create jobs and play by European rules. The principles and standards which are made in Lviv need to be applied to the rest of Ukraine,” says Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi.
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He sees Ukraine’s ability to raise $3bn from a 15-year international bond, priced at just below 7.4% on September 18, as “more to do with the clement global pricing environment than any investor vote of confidence” in the reform story.
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“West Ukraine was growing largely due to the automotive parts manufacturing cluster, which is now moving to central Ukraine too,” says Daniel Bilak, director of the Ukraine Investment Promotion Office.
Mr Bilak says the region has attracted EUR 500 million of investment from 20 companies from western Europe, the U.S. and Japan, which between them employ 40,000 people.
“Nearly every car made in Germany is made with parts from Ukraine,” he says, with car parts suppliers such as Sumitomo, Fujikura and Leoni all having opened manufacturing plants in the country.
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But the region is already a victim of its own success, he believes, with many in the highly qualified local workforce leaving for Poland since Ukrainians were granted visa-free access to Europe’s Schengen zone in June.
“It is a big problem for us, as it is driving up wages. We have had to increase salaries by 50% since the regime was introduced,” complains Mr Shevchenko.