Ukraine must switch from loans to FDI - Poroshenko
Thanks to conducted reforms today Ukraine is a promising place for investment, and the country's authorities set a task to switch from raising loans to the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI), Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
"My goal as a president, the goal of the government is to move from assistance to cooperation with investors. Ukraine must switch from loans to FDI - foreign direct investment," he said at the first meeting of the National Investment Council on Friday in Kyiv.
According to the head of state, international companies have an opportunity of writing their names in the history of Ukrainian success and simultaneously strengthen their positions in global markets.
Poroshenko thanked the companies that in the worst times for Ukraine in 2014-2015 supported it with their investments, including Cargill, Bunge ArcelorMittal, Turkcell, GE, as well as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The president drew attention of the participants of the meeting to the branches as IT and alternative energy. He said, in particular, that the share of the IT industry of the Ukrainian GDP has already exceeded 3%, and in this figure it is third after agriculture and the metallurgy.
"According to experts, the number of IT designers this year will grow by 25%, and until 2024 - will double. These are all young, modern, ambitious Ukrainians," Poroshenko said.
He added that EUR 1.1 billion has been invested in alternative energy for the last few years, and Ukraine sets the task for five years to bring its share in the energy balance from several percent to a quarter.