FT: Ukraine's Agriculture, Retail and Energy - Investment Hot Spots

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• Publié par: worldwide-news-ukraine
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• Langue: English

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FT: Ukraine's Agriculture, Retail and Energy -

Investment Hot Spots

PR Newswire

KYIV, Ukraine, September 20, 2012

KYIV, Ukraine

,

September 20, 2012

/PRNewswire/ --

Financial Times (FT)

issued a special report on

Ukraine

, identifying

investment hot spots - agriculture and retail, as well as energy

sector.

Ukraine's

predisposition to further development is attributed

to vast arable lands, underutilized capacity and promising but

underinvested energy potential.

"

Ukraine's black earth

- the chernozem - is an amazingly deep, fertile soil

whose prodigiously productive capacity led the country to be christened the

bread basket of

Europe

", begins the article on agriculture in

Ukraine

. The

author starts analyzing the perks of investment into Ukrainian agricultural

sector with the statement that "the country has close to a third of the arable

land area of the whole EU, …70 percent of which is black earth up to six metres

deep".

Evidently, the climate, geographical location, rail network, and labor cost create

favorable conditions for agriculture in

Ukraine

. "It's [agriculture] the only

economic sector that showed positive gains during and after the global financial

crisis that hit in late 2008," the British paper quotes Ukrainian expert Bohdan

Chomiak. He also noted that at present the sector had been working on 40

percent capacity.

In its article "Foreign direct investment: 'Risky' state also has its attractions" the

paper highlights the positive business experiences such global leaders as fast-

food chain

McDonald's

, supermarket chain

Metro Cash & Carry

, and food

producer

Kraft Foods

had in

Ukraine

.

McDonald's

invested more than

USD 200

million

, and now one of its restaurants in

Ukraine

ranks second most visited in

the world - out of its 33,500 joints. Since 1995

Kraft Foods

invested

USD 200

million

into

Ukraine

, making it one of the top ten priority markets for the

company, according to the local

Kraft

representative.

The special report article focusing on Ukrainian energy highlighted opening up

of the "underinvested but promising" energy sector to the international

companies. Author Roman Olearchyk noted the irony of the effect that high

Russian gas prices caused - they "helped to change

Ukraine's

investment policy

for the better".

ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron - world's top energy companies -

recently entered Ukrainian market. Shell executive Graham Tiley expressed

belief that

Ukraine

could provide more energy resources from its domestic

production. He appreciated open and transparent tenders held to choose

investors.