The stocks of U.S. tech behemoths — Facebook, Tesla, Netflix, Microsoft, Visa and Advanced Micro Devices — are now available for trading in Ukraine, the National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market announced on Dec. 8.
As of today, Ukrainians cannot buy shares of these companies for hryvnias because the commission has not yet finalized the process of dual listing, when a particular security is listed on two or more different exchanges, according to Denys Matsuyev, equity sales and trading expert at the Ukrainian investment company Dragon Capital.
The commission could not immediately be reached for comment to explain when the process will be finalized, but Ukrainian stock market expert Lyubomyr Ostapiv told the Kyiv Post that it will happen later in December.
This is positive news for Ukrainian investors because now they can trade foreign stocks on the local market, which will be easier, according to broker Roman Osipov. Before that, Ukrainians could only trade foreign stocks with the help of a broker abroad who received up to a $10 fee from each transaction.
To work with a foreign broker, Ukrainians had to invest at least $10,000 in stock — big money for the average Ukrainian, Osipov said.
But as shares of some U.S. tech companies will now be circulating on the Ukrainian securities market, local investors are allowed to buy even just one stock.
As of Dec. 11, the stock of popular streaming platform Netflix, for example, costs nearly $500, while the stock of the U.S. electric car company Tesla is valued at $627.
The decision to make these stocks available in Ukraine won’t have a major impact on the local stock market, which has been weak and stagnant for years, said Oleksiy Suhorukov, Business Development Director at the Ukrainian Exchange.
According to Suhorukov, the Ukrainian stock market is stuck in the Stone Age and need to develop faster to keep up with other countries.
As of now, it mostly relies on the government’s bonds, while the number of shares that local investors trade is pitifully small, Ostapiv told the Kyiv Post.
The Commission’s decision to allow trading some big American companies’ stocks in Ukraine is a small but important step to revitalize the local securities market, according to Osipov.
In order to buy these shares, local investors have to draw up an agreement with a Ukrainian broker who has an official license and install a trading terminal on their computers to monitor, buy, and sell securities.
The National Bank of Ukraine allows Ukrainians to invest up to $100,000 in the stocks of foreign companies, Suhorukov said. To start the trade, Ukrainians have to make an initial deposit of at least $178.
It is not profitable to invest a small amount of money in foreign stocks, experts said. To benefit from stocks, investors should purchase at least $20,000 of shares. Otherwise, Ukrainians will lose money because the price of shares on the local stock market is higher than abroad.
