President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at the Mariupol Investment conference in Mariupol, Ukraine, on October 29. Credit: Presidential Administration of Ukraine
My first trip to
Donetsk was in 1998. Viktor Yanukovych was the regional governor. His ally and
supporter Rinat Akhmetov, who is today Ukraine’s richest man, was just starting
to expand his business empire. Akhmetov had become the owner of the Shakhtar
Donetsk football club following a stadium bomb assassination that killed the
club’s previous owner during a football match. Donetsk in those days was Ukraine’s
wild east.
I was working for
what was then the country’s biggest cellular operator, Ukrainian Mobile Communications,
which now operates under the Vodafone brand. We had just launched a new digital
cellular communications network in Kyiv and a handful of big Ukrainian cites.
At the time, mobile phones were considered an attribute of affluent
businessmen, or gangsters.
Twenty years later,
things could not be different. Mobile phones are omnipresent and widely
affordable. Donetsk region is also changing and embarking on a new journey to lure
in foreign direct investment.
This week, I was back in Donetsk region on October 29 together with 400 business representatives and state officials at the Mariupol Investment conference, President Zelenskyy’s first investment forum, aimed at showcasing Mariupol and eastern Ukraine to international audiences. This was my first time back to the region since Russia invaded parts of Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014, where the war continues today. Mariupol on the north coast of the Sea of Azov is 20 kilometers from the front line.
On the grey autumn
morning of the investment forum, Mariupol looked warm and welcoming. The city
has seen a makeover with new public transport on its streets. Vadim Boychenko,
the INSEAD Business School educated mayor of
Mariupol, has been recognized for driving changes in the city.
International
guests arrived to the Mariupol forum by flying into Zaporizhia, the closest
city with an operating international airport. They then traveled by road to
Mariupol. Ukraine’s new government had set an ambitious goal to construct a new
highway in time for the forum. And it succeeded. The brand-new Zaporizhia to
Mariupol 225-kilometer-long road is the smoothest stretch of pothole-free
tarmac that I have seen in Ukraine. It’s a benchmark standard for future
construction of new highways in Ukraine.
At the forum, Zelenskyy
and Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk urged investors to focus on eastern
Ukraine. “You have definitely heard of businessmen who did not
believe in Google or missed the opportunity to buy WhatsApp for a song. Ukraine
is a country of opportunities. And today they are knocking at your door. But
opportunity never knocks twice,” Zelenskyy told the Mariupol forum audience.
During the forum, twelve
memoranda were inked. Four mobile communications operators signed an agreement
to ensure fourth generation broadband cellular network coverage providing fast-speed
mobile web access across 90 percent of Ukraine’s vast territory. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed
a memorandum with the government kicking off the initial public offering
process of Ukrainian Railways that will allow UkrZaliznytsia to raise capital
from public investors.
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Together with the president
and prime minister, Ukraine’s young newly appointed government ministers
presented how their ministries will boost Ukraine’s economy by forty percent
over the next five years, focusing primarily on land reform and privatization,
and fighting the shadow economy.
The world’s leading
media also came to Mariupol. But Ukraine is finding it tough to get its
investment messages across as the media is focused on one topic when it comes
to Ukraine: the Trump inquiry. CNN award-winning journalist Clarissa Ward was
in Mariupol seen actively pursuing Ambassador William Taylor, the top US
diplomat in Ukraine, who had just returned from Washington to a rock star
reception after testifying on Capitol Hill in the impeachment inquiry.
A day before the
Mariupol conference, the American Chamber of Commerce together with Citi
Ukraine presented the Business Climate Survey. The results are cautiously
optimistic: 82 percent of companies surveyed plan to expand their business in
Ukraine, 88 percent are forecasting an increase of their revenues in 2019, and
64 percent are reporting an improvement of the investment climate.
Zelenskyy and his team delivered a clear and concise message in Mariupol: they are committed to their people in eastern Ukraine. The government showed that it will support and showcase the opportunities for business to invest in eastern Ukraine, to boost the economy, and create jobs.
The president spoke
passionately about ending the war and bringing peace to the region. The next
months will be vital to prove whether the road to ending the war will be as
smooth and as quickly constructed as the new road to Mariupol was. This will be
a key factor to bring in investment to eastern Ukraine.
Andy Hunder is
president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. He tweets @AndyHunder.
Further reading
Wed, Aug 14, 2019
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is right to emphasize the need to privatize state-owned enterprises.
UkraineAlert
by
Anders Åslund
Tue, Sep 3, 2019
The Zelenskyy administration’s very positive statements, if translated into policies, would open a new era of economic growth and opportunity for Ukraine.
UkraineAlert
by
Oleh Havrylyshyn and Basil Kalymon
Wed, Sep 4, 2019
Although every Ukrainian understandably wishes a quick end to the war in the Donbas and a lasting settlement of the conflict, Ukraine is strongly advised to approach any Minsk Summit with the greatest care.
UkraineAlert
by
Willem Aldershoff
Zelenskyy and his team delivered a clear and concise message in Mariupol: they are committed to their people in eastern Ukraine.
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