79% of Ukrainian Businesses Take Advantage of Broadband Internet Access - Google & GfK

KYIV, November 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Internet gives exceptional marketing and communication opportunities for businesses, reckons global IT giant Google policy analyst William Fitzgerald. Ukrainian branch of the company cooperated with market research company GfK Ukraine to explore the influence of Internet on the Ukrainian economy. They concluded that Ukrainian businesses more reliant on the Internet, on average, suffered from the 2012 economic decline 6.6 percent less, compared to their less connected peers.

"Ukraine is one of the world's largest IT products supplier," stated the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Vilkul in his speech during the presentation of the Google & GfK Ukraine report. He highlighted the quality of Ukrainian education in the field and reminded about IT hotspots that have been developed across the country in recent years - Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, and Odesa. "Importantly, Internet-based economy provides equal opportunities," emphasized Vilkul.

The state official also noted that the country provided tangible tax relief for IT industry to foster growth. The businesses in the field only pay 5 percent income tax and enjoy VAT-free environment for IT services.

Presently, an average business in Ukraine uses about a quarter of available potential of the Internet, states the report. Should the use climb up 10 percent, the GDP of the Eastern European country would have grown by one percent. This equals extra UAH 14 billion for the Ukrainian economy, note the authors of the report.

More than 60 percent of Ukrainian businesses own websites, about a third buys online ad space, nearly half adds information about the business to Internet databases and indexes, states the Google & GfK Ukraine report.

As the capital of Ukraine Kyiv leads the way in most areas of Internet use for businesses, the average intensity of Internet use in the city is 32 percent - 7 points over the country average. Notably, transport and trade companies are leaders among the most active Internet users compared to other types of businesses in Ukraine.

Interestingly, three of every four Ukrainian hotels offer Internet access to their guests. Ukraine made it to number nine in the global rating of countries whose hotels offer the service of Internet access in their rooms (cable or Wi-Fi), according to Trivago.