In the nearest year or two western investors will be more interested in non-strategic industries of Ukraine.

This opinion was expressed by the managing partner of Ernst & Young Ukraine Alexey Kredisov in the survey conducted by Gorshenin Institute about the investment climate in Ukraine.

The expert said that currently the investment climate in Ukraine was rated as unfriendly in a number of international indexes. In order to improve this situation the country needs a certain set of measures. "Changing the tax laws, changing the system of business regulation, judicial system, overcoming corruption", he mentioned. Along with that the expert expressed hope that the New Tax Code was crafted more precisely to eliminate the possibility of twofold interpretations. "But I would make a larger emphasis on how this document will be implemented rather than on its quality". According to our findings and other experts` opinions the old tax laws were not the worst. The problem was not even the quality of tax laws or the existing duties but rather the implementation and administration of tax payments. Any legal provision can become absurd when you resort to the dual interpretation of certain norms. The problem was that not all rules were applied equally to all market players: there are privileges for some and a specially harsh treatment of others", Mr. Kredisov said.

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The expert thinks that in 2011, western investors will show interest in various business assets of Ukraine. "Another question to what degree is Ukraine ready for western investors? What are western investors anyway? It`s less expensive credits, newer technologies, new managerial skills. I have questions just how honest is Ukraine as a country in terms of welcoming those newer technologies, money and managerial skills. Some industries remain closed. The tenders are still not entirely open and transparent, moreover the rules for participation are written so that it is very clear that western investors will have a very difficult time complying with them. Based on that, I think, the industries where we should expect the biggest investments in the upcoming year or two are not strategic ones. Most likely these are agricultural sector, reprocessing, consumer goods, retail, wholesale and financial sector", he said.