Foreign investors losing interest in Ukraine – survey

Some 48% of foreign investors think that Ukraine became less attractive for investment, 42% consider the investment climate largely unchanged, and only 9% see improvements.

These are some of the findings of the fifth annual survey of strategic and portfolio investors jointly conducted by the European Business Association (EBA), Dragon Capital, and Center for Economic Strategy (CES) at the end of October 2020.

"The 'lack of trust in judiciary' was named the main obstacle to foreign investment for the first time in five years, while 'widespread corruption,' the previous leader, moved to second place. Both portfolio and direct investors have named the same obstacles as most important ones," Dragon Capital reported.

Market monopolization and power seizure by oligarchs was the third impediment, though strategic investors were also concerned about cumbersome and frequently amended legislation.

In the meantime, debt default is considered a top threat to the investment climate, followed by a shift away from democratic values and change in geopolitical direction from west to east.

Strategic investors also view loose economic policies as an important negative factor, while portfolio investors would negatively react to failure to reach an agreement with the IMF on the next loan tranche.

Dragon Capital

Dragon Capital is a leading Ukrainian group of companies in the field of investment and financial services, offering a comprehensive range of products in equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, investment banking, private equity and asset management to corporate and private clients.

EBA

The European Business Association (EBA) is one of the largest business communities in Ukraine, founded with the support of the European Commission in 1999. The EBA gives domestic companies the opportunity to contribute to improving the investment climate in Ukraine in favor of business industries, society, and the country as a whole.

CES

Read alsoUkraine's economy to fully recover from coronacrisis in 2022 – NBUCentre for Economic Strategy (CES) is an independent economic policy think tank founded in May 2015. Its objective is to support reforms helping to achieve sustainable inclusive economic growth in the country. The Centre contributes to the development of Ukraine's economic growth strategy, conducts independent analyses of the most important aspects of public policy and builds public support for reforms.

Ukraine and foreign investment

• On June 26, 2020, the National Bank of Ukraine improved the calculation of foreign direct investment (FDI) in accordance with international standards.
• Now, reinvested income of enterprises is taken into account in the balance of payments, i.e. the income of direct foreign investors includes not only dividends, but also their share in the retained earnings of the enterprise. These changes are in line with the International Monetary Fund statistics standards and the practice of most countries in the world.
• Due to the coronavirus crisis, foreign direct investment in the world in the first half of 2020 decreased by 49% against 2019.