EBA Morning Coffee with the Ambassador of Italy to Ukraine in Kharkiv

25/ 04/ 2018

The Ambassador of Italy to Ukraine Mr Davide La Cecilia and the Director of Italian Trade Agency in Kyiv Mr Carlo Ferrari came to Kharkiv with the working visit. At the meeting, we discussed the ways of cooperation between our countries, directly with the Kharkiv region. According to Mr Ambassador, the trade turnover between our countries in recent years has increased by 25-27%, and there is a real potential for its further growth, first of all, in such areas as: energy, including renewable; agriculture ( Italians have know-how in land-processing technology). There is interest in infrastructure projects where Italians have extensive experience in the reconstruction of airports and roads; to the Small and Medium Enterprises Support Program (95-97% - SMEs in Italy, so cooperation at this level is very important). The CEOs of the EBA member-companies on their part shared the vision of the situation in the region in terms of their spheres of activity: IT, agriculture, banking, real estate and others, and also talked about potential opportunities for the Italian investor. Among the obstacles to investing were corruption, opaque tendering processes, and high lending rates (representatives of agrarian companies have invited Italian investors with ‘their money’ for profitable investments. ‘Italy is not yet on the list of 10 major investors in Ukraine, so we have to strive for it!’ - noted Oksana Shakhova, the Head of the EBA Kharkiv Office Coordination Council, Regional Director of Raiffeisen Bank Aval.

The Ambassador of Italy to Ukraine Mr Davide La Cecilia and the Director of Italian Trade Agency in Kyiv Mr Carlo Ferrari came to Kharkiv with the working visit.

At the meeting, we discussed the ways of cooperation between our countries, directly with the Kharkiv region.

According to Mr Ambassador, the trade turnover between our countries in recent years has increased by 25-27%, and there is a real potential for its further growth, first of all, in such areas as: energy, including renewable; agriculture ( Italians have know-how in land-processing technology). There is interest in infrastructure projects where Italians have extensive experience in the reconstruction of airports and roads; to the Small and Medium Enterprises Support Program (95-97% – SMEs in Italy, so cooperation at this level is very important).

The CEOs of the EBA member-companies on their part shared the vision of the situation in the region in terms of their spheres of activity: IT, agriculture, banking, real estate and others, and also talked about potential opportunities for the Italian investor. Among the obstacles to investing were corruption, opaque tendering processes, and high lending rates (representatives of agrarian companies have invited Italian investors with ‘their money’ for profitable investments.

‘Italy is not yet on the list of 10 major investors in Ukraine, so we have to strive for it!’ – noted Oksana Shakhova, the Head of the EBA Kharkiv Office Coordination Council, Regional Director of Raiffeisen Bank Aval.