EBRD to Help Ukraine Get into Top-100 of Doing Business Ranking

KYIV, Ukraine, February 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development shares Ukraine's ambitions to be among the top-100 countries of the World Bank's Doing Business  ranking and would like to help Ukraine achieve this goal, said the President of EBRD, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, after the meeting with the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych. The EBRD President said that his bank is ready to keep financing projects in Ukraine at a previous rate - about EUR 1 billion per year.

This goal is commendable but it requires months and years of hard work, noted Sir Suma. Besides, Ukraine has to provide a good business climate and improve customs, tax and judicial systems as well as solve the corruption issue, stressed the banker.

The EBRD president remains sure this goal requires trilateral efforts of Ukrainian government, business entities and EBRD together with other international financial organizations. Concurrently, the European banker said that after a series of meetings with Ukrainian state officials he had felt the readiness of Ukrainian government to work on solving problems, reported Ukrinform.

Importantly, in 2012 Ukraine climbed 15 spots to reach the 137^th place on the ease of doing business list. The country was able to improve its ranking in the World Bank list due to a set of reforms. As noted in the Doing Business 2013 report, released in October 2012, Ukraine made it easier to start business, introduced tax relief measures, and improved property registration procedures.

In addition, Ukraine dropped the minimum capital requirement for company incorporation, as well as the requirement to have incorporation documents notarized. Other reforms included the alleviation of property registration and paying taxes procedures, the introduction of an online filing and payment system for tax payers, mandatory for medium-size and large enterprises. Still, it is quite difficult to obtain a construction permit, get electricity, and resolve insolvency in Ukraine, reads the World Bank report.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development continues to be the largest financial investor in Ukraine. As of January 1, 2013 the Bank has committed more than EUR 8.2 billion (USD 10.7 billion) in 318 projects. In 2012, the EBRD has invested EUR 934 million (USD 1.2 billion) in 35 projects in Ukraine. About 71 percent of the investment went into private companies, 29 percent towards projects in the public sector.