Укр
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Russia's war against Ukraine is no excuse for the lack of reforms, representatives of American, Canadian, Dutch, Georgian, and Lithuanian businesses emphasized at a roundtable on judicial reform.
“War is too often applied as a lame excuse,” said Michael Datsenko from the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council and The Open Court project on Aug. 27. “All of us understand that (investment) problems are not connected to war. They have existed long before the war started.”
President Petro Poroshenko's optimistic forecast of a return to economic growth in 2016 is doubted.
“Economic growth can recover in the upcoming months if there is no escalation of the conflict,” Poroshenko said on Aug. 24. “Business is adapting. It finds new markets to replace the completely closed for Ukraine Russian market.”
While the Ukraine’s Ease of Doing Business ranking indeed improved for almost 20 points in comparison with 2014, Ukraine is still run badly, Jocelyn Guitton from the European Union delegation to Ukraine said. To succeed Ukraine has to show more progress in economic and judicial reforms. Harassment by tax authorities, hostile takeovers of businesses and absence of effective mechanisms of enforcement of court judgments flourish, Guitton added.
The investment attractiveness index of Ukraine for the second quarter of 2015 (2.66 out of possible 5) has little changed in comparison with the first quarter of 2015 (2.51), according to the European Business Association’s survey conducted on July 23.
More than 80 percent of businesses are not satisfied with the current investment climate, while 49 percent of CEOs do not see any positive changes.
