Head of Lviv State Regional Administration Mykhailo Tsymbaliuk has called on Russian investors to more actively invest in Lviv region.
"We expect investment from Russia. Unfortunately, Russia is only among the 20 top largest investors in the region’s economy. There are many companies that are interested in cooperation. When we speak about Drohobych, for example, we have a drilling bit plant, which jointly with Russian companies is a leader in production of deep-hole drilling bits on the international market," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.
He said that in 2011 foreign investment in the region grew by over 30% compared to 2010. Poland took the top spot in the size of investment into the region.
The official said that Lviv Regional Administration had created an ad hoc investment department, which is intended to work with each investor, accompanying each investment project until the start of its realization and helping to fight bureaucratic processes. He said that there are signals from European business that changes for the better are seen in Lviv region in the overcoming of bureaucratic obstacles.
Tsymbaliuk said that now the region has several dozen attractive facilities.
"First, this concerns the development of tourism infrastructure, and the construction of ski centers in Slavske. We have several investment projects on the reconstruction of mines, and one project is being realizing using U.S. investment, while the second project is in talks with Chinese businessmen at the intergovernmental level. A total of nine mines are waiting for investors," he said.
He also said that projects on the construction of hydro power plants on small rivers in Lviv region, wind power plants and the upgrade of Drohobych oil refinery are promising ones.
He said that the development of oil and gas fields was very important.
"Here we face a problem of depth. We’re waiting for an investor, as Boryslav, where oil was extracted via blasting holes, and as we know from the history and how Ivan Franko described it, this is becoming a thing of the past. [The oil is at] great depths, as everything that was over one-kilometer depth in the Carpathian basis was actively extracted from late 1940s to early 1950s. Drohobych and Nadvirna oil refineries used local crude oil, and now the refineries are operating unstably. There is only enough local oil for 25-30% of the facilities’ [capacity]," he said.
Tsymbaliuk also said that the extraction of shale gas was being studied.
"There is a U.S. company studing the depths and the way to extract gas," he said.
He also pointed out investment projects on the use of land in Lviv region in the agricultural area.
"Last year the region had 30,000 hectares of non-cultivated land. We managed to attract an investor. In spring and summer 2011 we ploughed up another 12,000 hectares. We forecast that the agricultural sector should exist in Lviv region, although earlier it was believed that this was not so," the official said.
