Last week in Washington DC the "Doing Business in Ukraine" conference organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) brought together Ukrainian leaders from the private sector and government, along with representatives from multinational companies, the Biden Administration, and the U.S. Congress. The aim was to discuss business and trade opportunities between Ukraine and the U.S. as well as G-7 allies. The conference drew insights from the work of the CSIS Ukraine Economic Reconstruction Commission, which seeks to create a policy framework guiding Ukraine's economic modernization and transformation.
The topics for discussion were:
- Financing Private investment in Ukraine
- How will EU accession impact Ukraine's Economic Transformation?
- Multilateral perspectives on Ukraine’s Economic Transformation
- How can Ukraine’s Agriculture sector be rebuilt to be poised for 21-st century success?
- Renewable energy and Energy efficiency
- Grid and Transmission connectivity
- Cross border trade and logistics
- Multimodal transportation — trains, planes, and roads
- Digital solutions for recovery
- Rebuilding Digital infrastructure
Vira Savchenko, the CEO of BDO in Ukraine, and a Member of the Board of the Ukraine Recovery Committee at the European Business Association (EBA), was one of the panelists in the discussion titled “Digital & Technology: Rebuilding Digital Infrastructure”. The panel also featured Ambassador Kristjan Prikk, Estonian Ambassador to the United States, Andrea Missori, Head of Customer Unit Southeast Mediterranean and Eurasia and President of Ericsson Italy, and Maksym Shkilov, Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
As a representative of the private sector in Ukraine, Vira Savchenko discussed the current investment opportunities in Ukraine and how BDO in Ukraine can provide assistance. She highlighted that BDO in Ukraine's experts regularly update the Investors Guide for Ukraine’s Reconstruction and emphasized the Interactive Investment Map of Ukraine developed by EBA, for which she assists in selecting projects.
The discussion also delved into the present telecommunications landscape in Ukraine.
A few takeaways from the discussion:
- According to RDNA 2 by the World Bank, losses in the Telecom market amount to about USD 2.27 billion after the start of the full-scale invasion by russia (including occupied, de-occupied and never-occupied territories).
- 25% of the Internet networks in Ukraine are either destroyed or damaged.
- We have over 1.7 million destroyed and damaged fixed communication lines, 4 000+ destroyed and damaged base station of mobile operators, and 720 Internet providers that have suffered significant losses.
- Despite the war, the Telecom sector has stood strong against the enemy’s goals of destroying millions of lives:
- 42 000+ Starlinks provides uninterrupted communication in Ukraine (including the front line)
- 1 700+ base stations were restored by mobile operators
- 1,5 million Ukrainians used national roaming every day during blackouts
- 5+ million Ukrainian refugees are in contact with their families in Ukraine at affordable rates.
- Ukraine is a significant market of highly skilled IT professionals globally. Currently, about 80,000 people in IT sector are looking for job in Ukraine or abroad, while there are only 9, 000 open positions, whereas before the war, it was the opposite.
- City provides a unique tax and legal space for IT business making it easier and less expensive to manage and operate your business.
- Many tested Ukrainian civil defense technologies can be used worldwide during natural disasters for alarming, preparing, and recovering.
- Ukraine is recognized as the most cyber-secure nation in the world.
- What we need is to recovery infrastructure in territories that are free from invasion (and we are working on it every day) and become free from russia influence. All this requires significant investments. That’s why the most interesting sectors for investments are IT patents and technology.
- The U.S. investors see numerous opportunities in Ukraine, but European investors are much better equipped with tools and information (risk insurance, etc.).
- Ukraine is OPEN FOR BUSINESS, and we are actively seeking collaboration.
To watch the video of full discussion on this topic, please follow the link.
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