October 30, 2006
On October 30, 2006, Alex Frishberg made a presentation on the peculiarities of doing business in Ukraine for the representatives of the Russel 20-20 Association.
The Russel 20-20 Association unites the largest institutional investors involved in the research of potentially attractive markets for investment. The members of the Association include the top-management of global pension funds, foundations and assets management companies, together representing approximately USD 9 billion of investment capital. Each year they visit countries with developing financial markets with the aim of gathering additional information on the investment climate and analyzing existing investment opportunities. Their analysis is based on the evaluation of risks and profitability regardless of social, political and economical determinants of the country.
In his presentation, Mr. Frishberg pointed out that despite the announced state plan of massive legislative and social reforms and European integration, the current foreign investment legislation grants few advantages to investors in Ukraine. The cancellation of free economic zones and VAT privileges and the re-privatization process were cited among the recent evidence of this trend. Nevertheless, Mr. Frishberg stressed that Ukraine is one of the fastest growing markets and has opportunities that are no longer available in other countries, including extremely low labor and production costs.
