Ukrainian Investment Summit

The 7th annual Ukrainian Investment Summit took place on 16th – 18th May 2011 at Chelsea Football Club in London and reaffirmed its status as the leading investment conference for Ukraine worldwide.

Over 350 attendees from 20 countries took part in the 3 days of the Summit. They were welcomed to the event by UK Minister for Europe, David Lidington, MP, UK Ukraine Parliamentary Group Head, John Whittingdale, MP, and Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, HE Volodymyr Khandogiy. Key officials and prominent public figures from Ukraine who spoke included:

• Petro Poroshenko, Head of Council, National Bank of Ukraine
• Anatoliy Maksiuta, 1st Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine
• Viktor Mayko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
• Yuri Kolobov, 1st Deputy Chairman, National Bank of Ukraine
• Oleksandr Ryabchenko, Head, State Property Fund of Ukraine
• Dmytro Tevelev, Head, State Security & Stock Market Commission of Ukraine
• Vladyslav Kaskiv, Chairman, State Agency for Investment & National Projects of Ukraine
• Kateryna Yurchenko, Vice Prime Minister, Autonomous Republic of Crimea
• Volodymyr Ignashchenko, Advisor to Minister of Ecology & Natural Resources of Ukraine
• Oleksandr Vilkul, Governor, Dnipropetrovsk Region

The overall message from the 65-strong speaker faculty and the business elite present was that there are definitely positive signs of growth in the economy, but that the investment climate would benefit from an accelerated reform process by the government.

Just some of the Summit highlights this year included:

• The Adam Smith International Economic Advisors Debate, at which 1st Deputy Economy Minister was joined by Dr Anders Åslund, Tim Ash of RBS, Roland Nash of Verno Capital and Tore Emanuelsson of the EIB;
• Two separate Ukrainian wine-tastings, kindly hosted by Artemovsk Winery and Kolonist, featuring its owner, former Ukrainian Energy Minister, Ivan Plachkov;
• The ever popular Institutional Investor Panel, featuring representatives of the IFC, Alpcot Capital Management, TA Venture, KM Core, Blackfish Capital and Metropol (UK);
• Strategic corporate presentations by a number of leading Ukrainian companies including Group DF, System Capital Management, Industrial Union of Donbass, Sintal, Ukrainian Business Group, XXI Century, UDC Holding, Ukrainian Independent TV Corp, Rosinka and Donetsk Steel;
• Case studies from leading strategic investors, such as TNK-BP, Nestlé and Dyckerhoff;
• A Guest Presentation by one of Ukraine’s leading strategists, Pavlo Sheremeta.
• The unique setting of Chelsea Football Club allowed for some enjoyable social features, including stadium tours, a Gala Evening in the Club Museum, photo opportunities with the FA Cup and Premiership trophy and viewing of the final home game of the season vs Newcastle United and the reserve team cup final vs Blackburn Rovers.

Congratulations go to the winners of our inaugural UIS Awards Ceremony, voted for by present and past attendees of the Summit, as well as attendees of all our portfolio of Ukrainian events. The categories and winners are:

Best Ukrainian Company of the Year 2011 – Galnaftogaz

Received by Vitaly Antonov, Chairman & CEO, Galnaftogaz

Best International Investor in Ukraine 2011 – ArcelorMittal

Received by Volodymyr Tkachenko, Chief Advisor on Government Relations, ArcelorMittal Krivij Rih

Leading Financial Institution in Ukraine 2011 – Credit Agricole

Received by Jacques Mounier, President of the Management Board, Credit Agricole

Best Capital-Raising Strategy in Ukraine 2011 – Myronivskiy Hliboproduct

Received by Viktoriia Kapeliushna, Chief Financial Officer, MHP

Top Domestic Business Figure 2011 – Oleg Bakhmatyuk, Chairman of the Board, Avangard

Received by Marc Cohen, Senior Vice President, Financial Dynamics, adviser to Avangard

Ukrainian Deal of the Year 2011 – Ferrexpo

Received by Nikolai Kladiev, CFO, Ferrexpo

A big thank you is extended to all speakers, sponsors and attendees of the Summit, with a particular vote of thanks to Ambassador Khandogiy and his team at the Embassy in London for their ongoing support.

Dates are currently being finalised for the 8th annual Summit in March – April 2012.