Nick CottonBirth: 1967Nationality: United KingdomJob: Managing Director of DTZ Ukraine in KyivHow to succeed in Ukraine: "Capitalize on the incredible educational and cultural foundation of the Ukrainian nation. If you choose your staff carefully, invest in the resources to enable them to develop their knowledge and empower them to apply their creativity, then your business will be infinitely stronger."
Nick Cotton, the 47-year-old DTZ Ukraine managing director, has no plans to leave Ukraine – and its abundant potential – despite its current hard times.
Since 2004, DTZ, a real estate company with headquarters in Chicago, has advised and brokered investments worth more than $450 million in Ukraine, but the last 18 months have proven to be harsh, with revenues down sharply.
Despite the losses, DTZ believes that the country’s economy will improve in the next two years. “We now have an opportunity. Things were deteriorating at a rapid rate before EuroMaidan, things are very bad now, but we have that level of potential,” Cotton said.
Cotton arrived in Kyiv in 1999 after spending one year at DTZ’s Moscow branch.
At the time, Kyiv didn’t have much in the way of shopping malls, but the quality has improved since then. “The Ukrainian customer changed and has become much more sophisticated,” he said.
Renters are now looking again in the city’s center because it has become more affordable with the high vacancy rate.
“And there’s still quite a lot of office space coming into the market this year,” said the DTZ Ukraine head. This will drive down rent further.
According to Colliers International, another real estate company, Kyiv has 1.7 million square meters of office space in 2015. It is expected that another 120,000 will be added this year. Compared to the $38 square meter per month for prime space in 2010, the third quarter in 2014 witnessed only $31 per square meter.
As for retail space, 988,000 square meters will be available in 2015, but that amount is expected to increase 50 percent, despite the recession. Prime rent in the third quarter of 2014 fell to $70 per square meter per month compared to 2010’s $120 per square meter.
Cotton does not see foreign investment in the near term, except from Russia and Kazakhstan whose purchases are speculative. Credit options are also not attractive and many market players are still struggling with debt.
But ultimately new real estate construction catalyzes the whole economy. He wants to see more of the government’s attention on improving the environment for real estate development by eliminating bureaucracy and stimulating bank lending.
Now is the time to seize the opportunities.
“This is the wrong time to leave,” he said.
Cotton says he prefers a democratic approach to managing DTZ’s 35-person branch in Ukraine. All except him are Ukrainians. “The best way is to empower people,” he said.
He visits the United Kingdom twice a year. Besides that, the DTZ Ukraine CEO enjoys strolling in Kyiv’s old botanical garden near the Taras Shevchenko National University and having a Chernihivske beer at Le Cosmopolite or other restaurants he favors, such as Georgian Shoti, Italian Begoli or Asian San Tori. “When you’re in Ukraine you should drink Ukrainian beer,” he said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Ilya Timtchenko can be reached at [email protected].
