Инфраструктурные проекты в Украине: нынешняя ситуация и перспективы

The worn-out and self-destroying infrastructure networks and facilities in Ukraine coupled with the economic crisis have brought considerable attention of the Government to the infrastructure projects as potentially effective vehicle to minimize the consequences of the crisis to the economy. The issue of improving the infrastructure was brought to life also by the growing demand for qualified services from the market. Another important driver is that Ukraine vigorously needs infrastructure improvement in the light of upcoming European football championship to be held in Ukraine in 2012. In November 2008 the Government adopted a special program aiming in support of large-scale infrastructure projects. What happened since?

Ukrainian government has taken a number of practical actions in this direction on legislative level. First of all the primary Ukrainian laws regarding concessions and especially road concessions, housing supply and construction of utilities were amended and supplemented with up-to-date provisions. Secondly, a number of laws aimed at overcoming the financial instability were adopted. Specific law on general principles of public-private partnership was drafted, however it is still not yet enacted. Ukrainian budget reserved special funds aimed at provision of governmental guarantees to private investors, especially in road concessions and Euro-2012 related projects.

Recently adopted regulations also open additional opportunities in terms of financing the infrastructure projects. Fore example, the recently adopted laws on “On Concession for Construction and Exploitation of Automobile Roads” provides for such new instrument of financing as infrastructure bonds. Under the conditions of the global financial crisis, there is undoubtedly a need for financing of infrastructure products with “long-term” money.

Along with legislation changes a number of new infrastructure tenders were announced by central government and local municipalities. However, there continued to be limited activity in the infrastructure sector. Although a number of projects have been announced, just a few real projects have been noted, and no large new contracts have been awarded. At the moment, Ukraine’s infrastructure sector continues to be subdued, with little sign of actual activity on the ground. As an example, in July the government announced plans to launch an auction for the Lviv airport construction, however, it has been postponed a few times due to lack of investors.

According to the Infrastructure Project Finance Ratings, developed by the “Business Monitor International”, which provides a globally-comparative, numerically-based assessment of the risks facing major infrastructure projects, which will in turn affect the source, availability and cost of finance, Ukraine was found in last place out of 20 countries assessed in Europe. The key factors negatively affecting Ukraine in terms of infrastructure projects are lack of political stability, a poor competitive environment together with lack of public or private financing.

Despite all the problems, Ukraine is still being considered as a promising market for infrastructure projects and Ukrainian Government is trying to make efforts to attract attention of private business to the infrastructure projects. Ukrainian prime minister and other key political figures had series of official meetings with foreign governments and investors, where infrastructure projects supported by the state of Ukraine were suggested for their participation. Among such potential partners are European, Chinese, Korean, Iraqi, Libyan, Russian and European businesses.
Energy sector is also of great interest to the investors, including biofuel and implementation of Kyoto instruments. It should be noted that the OECD countries will have to purchase around 2 billion tonnes of surplus emission allowances to meet their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. There is likely to be significant competition in this market since transition economies together have about 6 billion tonnes of surplus allowances; and about 29% are available in Ukraine alone. Ukraine alone also has the potential to achieve emission reductions of the order of 2.7 billion tonnes through energy saving investments in the power, industry, water and district heating sectors (20%); methane capture from gas transmission and distribution systems, coal mines and landfills (21%); energy efficiency improvements across all sectors including the residential sector (40%); as well as investments in renewable energy, agriculture and forestry.

A number of investment pledges for upgrading infrastructure have been announced, including US$1.66bn for road works and US$473mn for railways. This makes Ukrainian market interesting for infrastructure projects. The potential infrastructure activities will be definitely fueled by preparations for the UEFA 2012 European Football Champion.


Author: Oleg Alyoshin