Ukrainians have invested heavily in postal and delivery services in 2020, which were in demand as more people stayed home and ordered food, clothes and electronics online during the pandemic.
Capital investment in these services reached $17 million last year, showing a 635% increase compared to 2019, according to the State Statistics Service.
Investment in local telecommunication companies also went up, by 3%, reaching $504 million.
All other Ukrainian industries — including transportation, real estate and entertainment — were losing money during the global coronavirus crisis, according to the State Statistics Service.
In general, the capital investment in Ukraine’s economy dropped by 38.2% last year, to $15 billion.
The entertainment, sport and art industries suffered the most. The investment in these fields decreased by 71% in 2020, to $1.2 billion.
Suprisingly, the crisis has taken a toll on Ukraine’s health care industry too, the most essential sphere during the pandemic. Capital investment in medical services and social work went down by 47.5%, to nearly $6 billion.
According to the State Statistics Service, capital investment in education dropped by 46%, in agriculture — by 45%, in construction — by 40%, in wholesale and retail trade — by 39%, in real estate — by 39%, and in financial and insurance activities — by 23%.
Even Ukraine’s tech, arguably the most pandemic-proof industry, received 13% less investment year over year.
The investment in Ukraine’s economy came from different sources. Local businesses invested 66.5% of those $15 billion put in Ukraine’s economy last year; investment from local budgets accounted for 10% (coming mostly from Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Odesa) and from the state budget — 9%.
Direct foreign investment in Ukraine plummeted. In the first 10 months of 2020, foreign investment accounted for $221 million, 20 times less than during the same period of 2019 when the country attracted $4.5 billion from foreign investors, according to the National Bank.
According to State Statistics Service, foreign direct investment accounted for a mere 0.4% of all capital investment in Ukraine in 2020.
