STATE HAS CRUCIAL ROLE TO DRIVE PRIVATE EQUITY INVESTMENTS INTO UKRAINE

London, 10 October 2018 - Agriculture, alternative energy, and infrastructure were identified as key sectors for the nascent Ukrainian private equity industry to invest in but investment opportunities remain limited according to panelists who spoke on the second day of Ukrainian Week’s business forum on 10 October 2018.

ICU, an independent asset management, private equity and investment advisory firm specialising in Central and Eastern Europe was one of the sponsors of the forum, which explored the growing Ukrainian economy and areas where UK and Ukrainian business can cooperate on post-Brexit changes in trade flows and agreements.

Speakers at the forum recognized the significant progress the country has made in the last four years and the increasing interest from private equity investors but stressed the limited investment opportunities as one of its main challenges. Addressing the lack of opportunities, the panelists said that the state can help by creating investment opportunities to encourage foreign strategic investors to invest in the region.

Speaking at the event, Makar Paseniuk, Managing Partner at ICU, said:

“The investment assets for strategic investors as well as private equity investors remain quite limited preventing them from deploying more significant amounts of capital. The central government as well as local authorities that were given the right tool box on the back of launched decentralization processes should play a more proactive role in creating investment assets  in sectors such as infrastructure, recycling, exploration and production, etc. This will allow to attract meaningful amounts of foreign direct investment that in turn will drive GDP growth».

The Ukrainian Week was launched by the British-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (BUCC), and MHP, an agricultural company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

ICU’s sponsorship is part of the firm’s ongoing commitment to supporting initiatives that promote business opportunities in Ukraine to the global financial community.

ENDS

About ICU

ICU is an independent asset management, private equity and investment advisory firm specialising in the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe.

Founded in 2006 by senior investment professionals from ING, ICU is Ukraine's leading asset manager. We currently manage over $500m in assets.

Our veteran investment team has experience in private equity, high yield corporate debt, distressed debt, restructurings and other special situations across a number of emerging markets. Investment decisions are supported by robust macroeconomic and sectoral analyses from our in-house team of research economists.

We aim to provide our clients with superior risk-adjusted returns across a number of asset classes. The firm is expanding its reach into key European markets via a combination of organic growth and acquisition and continues to expand the range its investment offerings.