15th Annual Ukraine Investor Conference: Keynote speech by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman
16.02.2019
Dragon Capital held its 15th Annual Ukraine Investor Conference on Feb. 12-13 in Kyiv.
The event drew about 400 foreign investors and local guests, with foreign institutions whose representatives attended boasting over $3 trillion under management, invited speakers and media representatives. This was matched by a high-profile speaker faculty, which included the president and prime minister of Ukraine, the National Bank governor, senior Cabinet officials, and many others. The size of the audience, one of the largest in the history of our events, demonstrated investors’ keen interest in Ukraine’s double elections this year, presidential in March and parliamentary in October. Politics was, therefore, a major focus of the conference.
Below please find our summary of the keynote speech by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman:
- The year 2019 means both opportunities and challenges. Ukraine entered the year with a new IMF program and a balanced and realistic budget has launched medium-term budget planning and started reform of the State Fiscal Service, ambitiously aiming to complete it in 2019. This year is also notable due to further reforms in the judicial system.
- The government’s priority going forward is to accelerate economic growth to 5%, which Ukraine needs to successfully fight poverty and thus make itself less vulnerable to populists. In this and other respects, the government is firmly aligned with the president, as each populist step will be costly and painful. Richer European countries could afford playing with populism, given their democratic tradition and high standards of living, but not Ukraine. To achieve
a faster growth pace, attracting investment and putting in place clear rules and guarantees for it is crucial. - Regional authorities have instruments to stimulate investment thanks to ongoing decentralization. Continuing to streamline regulations is another government priority, with results already visible in Ukraine’s ascension in the Doing Business ranking from 137th to 71st place in recent years.
- The government was and remains “pro-business and pro-entrepreneurial”.