Page 17 - UKRRptOct18

the European Business Association (EBA) and Centre for Economic Strategy (CES) in August-September 2018. In 2018, investors identified the volatile financial system and the exchange rate of the national currency as the third main obstacle. Changing legislation, repressive actions of law enforcement and restrictions on capital movement and foreign exchange operations were also mentioned. Specifically, the instability of the financial system and the exchange rate of the national currency (investors rated it with 5.9 points out of 10 possible) rose up by 2 positions in 2018. "This is the consequence of the continued uncertainty about the prospects for further cooperation with the country’s main creditor, the International Monetary Fund, and the significant external debt payments that Ukraine should implement in the nearest future," the authors of the survey said in a statement At the same time, investors worry less about the military conflict with Russia (5.4 points), because during 2018 there was an extinction of active military operations and information on combat losses reduced its presence in the information agenda.
Almost 42 % of Ukrainians would support their country joining Nato as the preferred option for guaranteeing security, according to a poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). A total of 35.3% back Ukraine's non-aligned status, 6.4% favour a military alliance with Russia and other CIS countries, and 16.3% were undecided, Interfax news agency reported on September 11. At the same time, 63% of respondents expressed their readiness to participate in a referendum on Ukraine's accession to NATO. Of these, 67.2% would support Ukraine's joining the alliance, according to the survey. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has submitted a motion to the nation's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, which would fix Kyiv's intention to join the European Union (EU) and NATO in the constitutional. According to KIIS poll, among the main reasons why Ukrainians support the country's accession to NATO, 76.2% named a guarantee of Ukraine's security, 34% believe this will help Ukraine resist Russian aggression and regain control of occupied territories, while 31.5% think this will help strengthen and modernize the Ukrainian army. Among the opponents of the country's accession to NATO, most cite the fear that it could drag Ukraine into NATO military operations (47.3%). Some 37.9% are sure that the alliance is an aggressive imperialist bloc, and 32.8% believe that Ukraine should in principle be a non-aligned country.
Corruption and distrust of the courts are the top two obstacles to investing in Ukraine , according to a survey conducted by Dragon Capital, the European Business Association, and the centre for Economic Strategy. Tomas Fiala, CEO of Dragon and President of the EBA, said: “For the third year, unfortunately, the first place among the investors' problems hampering investing in Ukraine is corruption.” Other investor worries, in descending order, are: hryvnia exchange rate instability, and monopolization of power by
17 UKRAINE Country Report October 2018 www.intellinews.com