In a new attempt to attract additional foreign money to Ukraine, the State Agency for Investment and National Projects is developing an interactive map that's aimed at showing a potential investor all the possibilities at a glance. The agency presented a beta version of the map on Oct. 16.
It
is part of the strategy that is supposed to bring as much as $40 billion in
foreign investments by 2020.
This
comes as agency’s last project since the Cabinet of Ministers disbanded it on
Sept. 10 and passed its functions to the Economy Ministry.
The
interactive map is set to be completed
by December and has been financed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Besides money, the Canadian side provided a technology for the project, while the
data regarding investment objects and background information about Ukraine and
its regions has been collected and compiled by the Investment Agency.
Kyrylo
Bondar, Investment Agency’s first deputy head, emphasized at the presentation
that “not a cent of (Ukrainian) government’s money has been spent on this
project.”
As
of Oct. 17, the interactive map consists of an actual map based on Google Maps
with investment objects added for each region, as well as a section containing
all sorts of background information on the country. It includes data on
industries, population, transportation, and detailed descriptions of each
region.
Vasyl
Fedyuk, investment policy and regional development chief at the Investment
Agency, said the project is a Ukraine’s step towards getting rid of its
negative image of a country that doesn’t effectively protects the investors’
property rights.
Benevolent intentions
The
interactive map presented by the Investment Agency is not the first of its kind
in Ukraine. Back in 2012, a similar project dubbed “Atlas of Ukraine’s
investment attractiveness” was launched by the Kyiv School of Economics,
Korrespondent news website, and U.S.-backed Local Investment and National
Competitiveness project. The atlas used to be hosted at the Korrespondent website,
but as of October 2014, it’s not available.
The
prospects of the new interactive investment map will also largely depend on how
well the agency will be able to maintain it, emphasized George Woods, expert at
FIP Associates, a Canada-based consultancy on foreign investments. Speaking at the
presentation, he said that “the map is a great tool, but it’s only a tool,
and you still need skilled people to operate it.”
Łukasz
Leśniewski, head of the economic information division at Invest in Poland
agency, said the database needs to be constantly updated to provide investors
with as accurate information as possible.
“In
Poland, we have (dedicated) people who verify this data. There’s nothing worse
for such a project than to lose credibility,” he concluded.
Kyiv Investment Agency
Kyiv
has launched its own project aimed at boosting the investments. On Oct. 16,
first deputy chairman of the Kyiv State City Administration Ihor Nikonov
announced the reestablishing of the Kyiv Investment Agency in order to attract
foreign and domestic investors alike to a wide range of municipal projects.
The project’s website
is in Ukrainian and English.
Previously,
the agency was rather ineffective as its tenders were closed and overall
activity lacked transparency, benefitting close allies of Kyiv former heads
Leonid Chernovetsky and Oleksandr Popov, explained Nikonov. Now it will be led
by Oleh Mistyuk, former World Bank official who holds a master of business
administration degree.
Already underway is a state-public partnership
scheme to get private investors to pony up for public playgrounds. According to
preliminary estimates, the amount of investment in transportation optimization
alone could be worth $2 billion and pay off in 10-15 years.
Nikonov says, the agency will operate in a
“single window” – consolidation of access – where a potential
investor will be able to interface with bureaucrats that represent all aspects
of the object of investment. No more running from office to office collecting
stamps and signatures.
Everything will be available online, from proposals
to tender winners to a single database containing all relevant information. This
should add transparency and reduce the time of doing an investment deal to just
90 days, said Mistyuk, an agency head. According to Nikonov of City
Administration, before the Revolution of Dignity the process could take up to
500 days.
Agency expects the World Bank and USAID to be
major donor organizations.
Andrii Degeler is the Kyiv Post’s information technology reporting
fellow. Degeler has been covering the IT business in Ukraine and
internationally since 2009. His fellowship is sponsored by AVentures Capital, Ciklum, FISON and SoftServe. He can be
reached on Twitter (@shlema) or
[email protected].
Kyiv Post business journalist Evan Ostryzniuk can be reached at
[email protected].
