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By Ukraine Rebuild News Staff, Sept 13, 2023
The number of Ukrainian companies planning new investments increased in the past year, along with the average size of the planned investment, but the outlook for investing has yet to return to pre-war levels, according to a survey by the European Business Association.
Some 26% of companies surveyed plan a new investment for next year, an increase from 19% in the same survey conducted a year ago, the EBA said. When asked the same question two years ago, before the Russian invasion, 32% of companies planned a new investment the following year.
The average investment planned for 2024 nearly tripled in size to $8 million from $3 million planned for 2023. An average for the previous year wasn’t available, but investments planned ranged from $20,000 to $400 million.
Also, about 40% of the companies surveyed said they plan to hire new staff in the coming year, up from about 20% in the same survey taken last year but down from 58% in the last survey before the war. Overall, 58% of business leaders surveyed this year predict positive business dynamics for their company in the coming year, up from 57% in the survey taken last year but down from 77% in the year before the war.
The survey, taken between Aug 26 and Sept 4, included 91 CEOs of member companies of the European Business Association in Ukraine. The EBA counts 877 of the largest companies in Ukraine as members, including foreign companies with local units, such as Commerzbank, Syngenta and Hitachi.
