Ukrainian President: Ukraine's Industrial and Scientific Potential is the Country's Key Investment Incentive

KYIV, Ukraine, April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych considers industrial and scientific potential of Ukraine the main pillar in its prospective modernization plans. The President stressed in his annual address to the Ukrainian parliament that the authorities would take all the effort to ensure favorable foreign investment climate and create appropriate legal, financial, technological and regulatory conditions to foster innovation and industries' modernization.

"The year of 2011 should be the period of building a new legal framework of protection of the rights and interests of investors, introducing modern mechanisms of industrial policy and providing state support to high-tech sectors of economy," said the President of Ukraine.

Ukraine inherited its scientific and industrial potential from the Soviet era. Though many industrial capacities of the country require drastic modernization, there are few sectors that put Ukraine in the lead.

First of all, Ukraine with its space industry potential occupies one of the world's leading positions among countries that produce rocket launchers and is one of the five countries, which have a complete rocket production cycle. Ukrainian companies that work in the space industry use most of the known space technologies and participate in 50 international space projects.

Secondly, Ukraine holds the 4th position in the world in the number of IT specialists, following the USA, India and Russia. According to "Central and Eastern Europe IT Outsourcing Review 2010," 14,000 IT specialists graduate from the Ukrainian universities every year. Ukraine's exports of computer software will reach one billion dollars in 2011, according to country's Vice Prime Minister Sergiy Tigipko.

Heavy industry, especially machine building, metallurgy and coal production, makes for an important part in general industrial structure of Ukraine. Fuel and energy complex, which includes energy, coal, nuclear, gas and oil industries is another large sector offering a significant pool of investment opportunities.

In 2010, the industrial production in Ukraine grew by 11% compared to 2009. The machine building industry grew 38.9% compared to 2009. The most important export industry of the country - metallurgy - reached a 12% production increase in 2010 according to the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine. The steel export of Ukraine totaled $2.8 billion, the export of agricultural products - $9.5 billion, and chemical products export reached $3.5 billion.