09 November 2015, 18:36
During the governmental-parliament working meeting, the Verkhovna Rada was represented by Viktor Halasiuk, the chairman of the Committee for Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship, Serhii Kiral, deputy chairman, and Mykhailo Khmil, secretary of the Committee. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, in its turn, was represented by Aivaras Abromavicius, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, and Yuliya Kovaliv, the First Deputy Minister.
Opening the meeting, Aivaras Abromavicius reminded the discussion participants of the meeting goal. “Based on the meeting results, we have to develop a certain “roadmap” and to establish, which legislative initiatives we are going to support, and which ones need finalization,” he mentioned.
Yuliya Kovaliv, the First Deputy Minister, emphasized the importance of business representatives’ participation in the discussion: “The key task of these mechanisms, industrial parks and economic areas, is to engage the investors and to offer them the package convenient for them in order to launch their manufactures in Ukraine.”
Presenting the results of the study on state support of industrial parks worldwide, obtained by the Ministry experts, Yu. Kovaliv stated that various stimuli for industrial parks development are used almost in all countries of the world. These include fiscal ones (tax abatements or immunity from taxation), institutional ones (simplicity of authorization procedures), infrastructural ones etc.
In the context of Ukraine, the First Deputy Minister indicated the aspects remaining without legal regulation. One of them, for example, is the access to infrastructure. “Just a land allocation by a decision of a local council is not enough. Illumination, road, and gas are needed to launch a ready-to-operate manufacture,” Yu. Kovaliv said and added that fiscal stimuli and institutional issues have to be regulated in the legal framework as well.
Viktor Halasiuk, the chairman of the Committee for Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship, remarked that the work of industrial parks requires, at first, clear “rules of the game”, which are planned to be introduced by the draft Law “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine (on Elimination of Regulatory Barriers for the Development of Industrial Park Network in Ukraine” No 2844, awaiting for the second reading. The second constituent, according to the People’s Deputy, have to be fiscal stimuli, which are suggested to be provided by a stimulatory package of draft laws including the draft Law “On Amending the Tax Code of Ukraine Regarding Development of Domestic Manufacture by the Way of Promotion of Attraction of Investments to Practical Economy Sector Through Industrial Parks” No 2554а and draft Law “On Introduction of Amendments to Customs Code of Ukraine Regarding Development of Domestic Manufacture by the Way of Promotion of Attraction of Investments to Practical Economy Sector Through Industrial Parks” No 2555а.
“Having established clear “rules of the game”, liberal, open, and market-wise enough, by draft law No 2844, and protecting it even from potential fiscal losses in mathematically justified manner, we will launch this mechanism and make its operation as efficient as possible,” V. Halasiuk explained, predicting a positive result of voting of this draft law package.
V. Halasiuk suggested, following the example of Turkey, to introduce the regimen of maximum promotion of industrial parks development by all key directions: fiscal, regulatory, and infrastructural. The chairman of the Committee stated: “In Turkey, industrial park residents buy electric energy cheaper by 30 % than the market price. That is, not to mention “ready to use infrastructure” and efficacy of regulatory procedures.”
Besides, the parliamentarian mentioned that formation of industrial parks structure requires sources. Thus, the draft law on the state and private partnership No 1058 has to undergo voting, besides the mentioned draft laws. At the same time, as V. Halasiuk informed, the need in implementation of a separate state support program or channeling of allocated funds of international aid to industrial development in Ukraine may arise.
V. Halasiuk has agreed to the Ministry position than the industrial parks are not a panacea for industrial development, and suggested mutual development of a draft law on rehabilitation of existing production sites.
Serhii Kiral, deputy chairman of the Committee, emphasized the importance of attracting to Ukraine, besides investors, leading companies to industrial parks. The People’s Deputy told about a pilot project of industrial park in Lviv; the existing gaps in this sector explained by him included the problem of access to networks and the need in offering park investor’s benefits for park customers, partners, and investors. “Considering these issues, we should aim to create a competitive package compared to the partner countries,” S. Kiral said.
Mykhailo Khmil, secretary of the Committee, emphasized the need in effective and timely use of Ukrainian resources. “Ukraine can not miss the moment when the relations of Europe with a large Eastern market, the Russian Federation, are cooled. We have to offer Europe and investors our capabilities and potential so as to concentrate the industrial potential here,” he said.
Brian Best, the head of investment-banking department of Dragon Capital, stressed that the business needs to be confident that “rules of the game” will not change in at least short-term perspective.
Oleh Boiaryn, the owner of Eurobaker plant, said that Ukraine has a great possibility to become a “European China”, meaning an industrial area for potentially large European market. For this purpose, we need to create a new industrial policy, having decided which type of economy do we wish to build, and where do we wish to become potential global leaders.
Philip Hlushko, a representative of TransInvestService, said that Ukraine is perceived globally as a country of high risks and, at the same time, a country of high potential. Nevertheless, this potential needs to be transformed into high revenue, which is a complicated task, as our competitors are such countries as Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Poland.
Ph. Hlushko advocated the draft laws mentioned by V. Halasiuk as, according to him, they are needed to create the platform necessary for investors, which can be suggested in a transparent manner.
Ihor Nykolyn, Director of the Association of Industrial Parks of Ukraine (AInPU), expressed his prospects of successful adoption of the draft laws by the Verkhovna Rada, as, in the event of failure to adopt them, Ukraine will be drawn at least 5 years back, and will have to start everything from the very beginning.