One of the tangible follow-ups to U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker’s September visit to Kyiv will take place on July 13 during what is billed as the first-ever U.S.-Ukraine Business Forum in Washington, D.C.
It will be Ukraine’s chance to give its “elevator pitch,” as U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt puts it, for why – despite Russia’s war – the investment climate is better than ever in the 93 percent of the nation that is not directly affected by the 16-month-old conflict.
“I think one of the big challenges for Ukraine over the next few months is to demonstrate the economy has turned the corner and the sometimes painful reforms are setting the foundation for long-term economic growth,” Pyatt said.
The District of Columbia event is an opportunity, he said, to highlight the nation’s “enormous untapped potential” in information technology, agriculture, aerospace and other sectors.
“The question I always ask people is why we aren’t seeing more foreign investment and why people aren’t taking advantages of opportunities,” Pyatt said. The answers are usually the same: not enough reform and too much corruption in Ukraine.
“I will view the investment conference in July as a success if Ukraine is able to make a successful presentation how the business climate has begun to change, outlining opportunities the government sees and indicating where they hope to do more work in the months ahead,” Pyatt said.
The day-long event is hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at 1615 H Street N.W. in Washington D.C., in cooperation with the U.S. Commerce Department.
It’s clear who will be doing the speaking and presenting from Ukraine’s side. What’s not yet been publicly disclosed is the full list of participants on the receiving end of the speeches.
A mix of existing investors in Ukraine, including Horizon Capital’s CEO Lenna Koszarny and Dragon Capital’s CEO Tomas Fiala, will be on hand. But the real question is how many serious prospective new investors, including CEOs of top U.S. companies, the event can attract.
According to the draft agenda, welcoming remarks will be given by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk; Tom Donahue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and Pritzker.
Also making the trip from Ukraine are Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, State Fiscal Service head Roman Nasirov, Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarskiy, Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius, Deputy Presidential Administration head Dmytro Shymkiv, State Property Fund head Ihor Bilous and Naftogaz Ukraine chairman Andriy Kobolev.
In announcing the event on April 28, Pritzker said that it “will bring U.S. CEOs and business leaders into direct dialogue with top Ukrainian policymakers so that the ideas and know-how of American business can be brought to bear in tackling Ukraine’s economic challenges.”
She described the conference almost as a reward for reform progress made thus far by the post-EuroMaidan Revolution government that replaced President Viktor Yanukovych’s corrupt regime.
Pyatt described Pritzker as “taking the lead personally with American industry partners” in the conference. Her involvement is significant, since she’s a billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist from Chicago who is close to U.S. President Barack Obama, who has yet to visit Ukraine in his more than six years in office.
“Ukraine has more work to do, but we want to encourage further positive reforms, and we know that the experience of United States businesses can lend crucial momentum to that effort,” Pritzker said in the April statement.
On June 10 she said: “The Obama Administration is committed to supporting and expanding strong economic relations between the U.S. and Ukraine.”
The conference takes place amid uncertainty over the outcome of Russia’s war, which has contributed to driving both the aggressor and victim nations into recession. But Ukraine boosters say the nation of 45 million people has the capacity, leadership and will to confront multiple challenges.
“This is a country that continues to progress and grow,” Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk said. “Despite having a conflict, this is a big country that has enough scope to do more than one thing at once.”
Convincing skeptics will, nonetheless, be a tall order. There is a dearth of new foreign direct investment and many existing foreign investors and businesses have shelved expansion plans.
Others are organizing events for Americans and the visiting Ukrainian delegation that week.
The U.S.-Ukraine Business Council is sponsoring a reception on July 13 with the Embassy of Ukraine to the United States. The business advocacy group, led by Morgan Williams, is also sponsoring the Ukraine Energy Forum on July 14 and co-sponsoring a congressional breakfast the same day. Another bellwether of support for Ukraine is how many top congressional leaders will be interested.
Pyatt said the bilateral relationship needs an injection of energy and momentum.
“Our trade and investment relationship is underweighted relative to the size of the Ukrainian economy, relative to the potential of key Ukrainian sectors where the U.S. is a global leader – the agricultural industry, food processing, energy technology, areas where American companies are the best in the world,” the ambassador said. “They’d be interested in doing more in Ukraine if the investment climate was more predictable.”
America at a glance
Total area: 9,826,675 square kilometers
Population: 318.9 million
Government type: constitution-based federal republic
Head of state: President Barack Obama
GDP, PPP: $18.287 trillion (2014 est.)
GDP per capita, PPP: $54,678 (2014 est.)
Main industries: petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining
Ukrainian-American relations:
Trade: $2.18 billion (2014)
Exports from the U.S. to Ukraine: mineral fuels and oils, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery, vehicles, seafood, plastics, pharmaceuticals
Exports from Ukraine to the USA: iron and steel, chemicals, foodstuffs, locomotives, machinery
American investment in Ukraine: $795.4 million (cumulative as of April 2015)
Main investors: Cargill, DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Citigroup, ExxonMobil
Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce, Embassy of Ukraine in the United States of America, Central Intelligence Agency, Ukrainian State Statistics Service, Global Finance Magazine
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected].
