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called “one of the most remarkable achievements of Zelenskiy’s presidency.”
The former infrastructure minister Krykliy will remain part of the government. “We don’t have a problem with him,” Zelenskiy said at press conference on May 20. “We need to build Ukraine quickly. The minister (Krykliy’s) team didn’t do it on time. I don’t have time to spare. The most effective person in infrastructure projects who showed quick results was Oleksandr Kubrakov of Ukravtodor, so he became infrastructure minister,” Zelenskiy added as cited by the Kyiv Post.
Kubrakov was elected to the government as a member of the president’s party Servant of the People (SOTP) but gave up his seat to become the head of the road repair agency. As infrastructure minister among his many tasks is to stabilize the financial health of the state-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways), which is on the verge of bankruptcy as well as continue the development of airports and set up a national air carrier.
Petrashko, who was an executive at UkrLandFarming, an agricultural company owned by oligarch Oleg Bakhmatyuk, will also stay in government to oversee the launch of the land market reforms due this summer.
2.5 Ukraine’s real estate market growing, apartment prices to double
In an encouraging sign of growing economic growth momentum, market participants predict apartment prices in Kyiv could double as Ukraine’s real estate market starts to grow.
Apartment prices in Kyiv could nearly double to $2,000 per square meter by the end of 2023, according to Serhiy Pylypenko, general director of Kovalska construction and construction materials company, as cited by UBN.
Incomes have been recovering as the coronacrisis begins to fade and have been pushed up by the tight labour market as so many Ukrainians have left the country to work abroad, mainly in Russia and Poland.
At the same time inflation and the rising cost of construction materials will also push up prices by 15-20%, according to Pylypenko, speaking at the Confederation of Builders conference on May 27. Soaring iron and steel prices that are currently at nine-year highs are pushing local prices up by 30-40%, he said. A boom in commodity prices began in November last year as the first coronavirus vaccines made their appearance leading companies to start ordering commodities in anticipation of a post-pandemic return to work in 2021, as bne IntelliNews highlighted in a cover feature in December “Brighter Days.”
The mood in the sector has improved noticeably in the last few months. Construction companies reported positive expectations for the sector in September for the first time in a year on the back of a seasonal rebound in activity and rising investment demand for housing construction.
The sector’s index finally moved above its equilibrium level in April, to 51.5, up from 40.6 in March, UBN reported. Respondents expected an increase in construction volumes, the number of new orders, purchases of contractor services, and purchases of raw materials and supplies.
14 UKRAINE Country Report XXXX 2018 www.intellinews.com