Investment in ukraine: MANY reasons to be cheerful

Despite possessing the backbone for a potentially strong economy – Ukraine is rich in resources, strategically located and endowed with an educated workforce – the nation is ranked 145th out of 183 countries in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index. However, this position is set to improve with new government measures to stimulate business development.

With upcoming events such as Euro 2012 set to take place in Ukraine, the country is set to take another step torwards reaching its mass-market potential. Coupled with social ameliorations – such as the establishment of pension reforms – local, experienced companies such as ITT Group are prepared to set the lead in attracting and orienting foreign investment.

 

"While we watched the crisis evolving in other countries it did not have that much of an impact on us” Oksana S. Markarova, President of ITT Investment Group

Oportunities exist for early birds. “Ukraine does offer tremendous opportunity for growth, and whoever invests now will get more benefits than those who come later,” says Oksana S. Markarova, president of the ITT Investment Group (ITT), highlighting the importance of timing for successful foreign investments.

ITT knows first-hand the results that the Ukrainian market can produce. “We work more with foreign companies that come here,” explains Ms Karkarova, and comments on Ukraine’s willingness to continue moving in this direction: “If you do this it can increase competitiveness.”

ITT, founded in 1995, is a consolidated 100 per cent Ukrainian-owned company that provides leading services of brokerage and investment banking, private equity, asset management and funds and investment consulting in Ukraine.

Despite the modest size of the Ukrainian market, the country boasts the benefits of not having fully merged into the European or World economy. “While we watched the crisis evolving in other countries it did not have that much of an impact on us,” explains Ms Markarova. “When something happens in London, it does not affect us too much.”

In the long run, this “isolation” as some might describe it, proved advantageous for the Ukrainian market as it is now at the forefront of investment targets. “When you do something in Ukraine you see the results of your work almost immediately,” says Ms Markarova.

With a proven track record, today four core companies lead ITT’s main lines of business: ITT-Invest, ITT-Management, ITT-Real Estate and ITT-Capital. “We work in accordance with international standards of governance and we are PricewaterhouseCoopers audited,” says Ms Markarova.

Though the chemical industry and metal processing are the traditional sectors in Ukraine, for the future Ms Markarova envisions “the core sources for growth will come from agricultural business and food processing.”