Asters contributed to promote Ukraine's recovery initiatives during the Ukrainian Infrastructure Forum in London
Asters Partners Oleg Boichuk, Roman Stepanenko and Yaroslav Petrov took part at the 2nd Ukrainian Infrastructure Forum. The event took place on 16 November 2023 in London under the official partnership of Embassy of Ukraine in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and investment initiative of the Government of Ukraine #Advantage Ukraine. The event has been organised by Strategy Council under the sponsorship of Herbert Smith Freehills and Onur Group.
The event brought together all stakeholders to discuss the requirements and opportunities in the reconstruction process of Ukraine, namely:
- structure, vision and mechanisms for the reconstruction efforts
- implementation of the global best practices to deliver the world-class infrastructure projects and assets
- areas where private sector investment and expertise can have the biggest positive impact
- PPP and concession models to deliver the major transport infrastructure projects
Partner Roman Stepanenko told about key aspects of the Ukrainian PPP regulations. During his presentation, he mentioned that the reconstruction of Ukraine requires an unprecedented amount of resources, including financial, material, energy, human etc. To ensure a successful rebuilding of the country, projects must be prioritised. Businesses expect the Government to provide a well-thought list of reconstruction projects setting out clear priority for some projects over the other. This will help to facilitate the efficient use of resources so that higher priority projects can be completed first and to prevent funds being spread across too many projects that cannot be completed on time or at all due to a lack of recourses.
Partner Oleg Boichuk delivered a presentation about Ukraine infrastructure recovery and private sector perspectives. He emphasised that despite the great interest of foreign companies in Ukraine's future recovery, many of them are cautious and would wait until a ceasefire or other definitive reduction of security risks in the country is achieved. At the same time, he mentioned that many foreign companies continue or even expand their operations in Ukraine during the full-scale war. This is a good example for other companies that are just considering entering the market.
He also mentioned positive and negative aspects regarding the regulatory issues in Ukraine. The positive aspects include the potentially attractive investment regimes (industrial parks) and the ongoing process of harmonising local legislation with the EU regulations. The negative aspects are incomplete reforms posting barriers to market entry (particularly, in construction, procurement) and remaining corruption risks.
Partner Yaroslav Petrov, who significantly contributed to event's organisation and moderated the panel discussion, pointed out that construction companies carefully plan their projects based on the idea "Build Back Better", i.e. not only to reconstruct the damaged Ukrainian infrastructure, but to improve it based on the best international standards and practises. It should be noted that private sector will play a significant role in the future recovery that is why even now during the martial law the Ukrainian Government should develop a proper regulatory environment and initiatives to attract financing for private sector.
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Asters is the largest full-service law firm in Ukraine with offices in Kyiv, Brussels, London, and Washington, D.C. The firm has access to over 125 jurisdictions through a well-developed network of partner law firms. Asters and its lawyers consistently receive recognition by the leading international rankings, namely Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500 EMEA, IFLR1000, GAR1000, GCR100, The Lawyer, Best Lawyers, Who’s Who Legal.
