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for 34.5% of the ad spend, up from 26% in 2017.
The number of Ukrainians using Facebook increased by 30% in 2018 , to 13mn, according to a survey by Agency PlusOne. Since May 2017, when Ukraine banned the use of Russia-based social media networks, the number of Ukrainians using Facebook, a US-based network, increased by 57%. About half of all Ukrainians aged 13 (the minimum age) to 45 use Facebook: 68% of the 18-24 year group; 62% of the 25-35 year group; 48% of the 36 to 45 year group. Users are skewed by gender: 59% female; 41% male. About two thirds access Facebook exclusively through their smartphones. Only 9%% only through their computers.
Ukrposhta handled 34mn international parcels last year, up 45% y/y, the centre for Transportation Technologies writes, analyzing the state postal company’s statistics. With e-commerce driving the parcel business, the top sources of shipments were: China, the Netherlands, Israel, and the US. Last year, Ukrposhta started partnerships with Hongkong Post and Alibaba’s delivery platform, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd. This year, Ukrposhta plans to increase parcel deliveries by 27%.
Ukrainians are among the world’s fastest adopters of contactless, cashless payments systems , Inga Andreeva, general director of Mastercard Europe SA, tells reporters. Last year, Ukraine registered the fourth fastest growth rate in the world for taking to this technology, which typically involves waving a smartphone or digital wrist watch in front of a terminal to pay with Google Pay or Apple Pay. Common in the Kyiv metro system, contactless terminals start working this week in the busiest station of Kyiv’s suburban ‘elektrichka’ trains.
With 38% of Ukrainians businesses accepting cashless payments, there is room to grow . The EU average is 60%, Mastercard says. Some businesses resist going to credit cards and contactless because it means paying taxes. But 64% of business managers surveyed by Mastercard say they prefer cashless for its simplicity and potential to boost sales. By last September, according to National Bank of Ukraine estimates, cashless payments accounted for 44% of transaction in Ukraine – a 13% increase since the start of the year.
Ukraine’s tech sector earned the country an estimated $4.5bn from exports of tech services in 2018 , according to the “Tech Ecosystem Guide to Ukraine” factbook, published on January 29. That’s almost $1bn up on the previous year’s figure, when IT brought in $3.6mn and made up 3.4% of Ukraine’s gross domestic product, according to the factbook, which was compiled by innovation park Unit.City and the Western NIS Enterprise Fund. The Ukrainian tech community aims to grow these numbers to $8.5bn by 2025, according to the factbook. According to the publication, most of this money, 70%, came from sales of software development services abroad — traditionally called outsourcing. The popularity of outsourcing to Ukraine can be seen in global rankings, with the 2018 Global Outsourcing-100 ranking included 18 Ukrainian firms, and foreign firms with offices here. Ukraine is 24th in the ranking of the best countries for software development. There are a total of 4,000 tech firms in Ukraine and 110 research and development centres of large tech companies such as Microsoft, Wargaming, ABBYY, Samsung, Huawei, Siemens, according to the factbook. About 45% of them are American; and the study ranks US giants Amazon and Snap as the most influential foreign tech companies here. Other figures also make Ukraine’s IT
63 UKRAINE Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com