ElitExpert continues a series of interviews with people who have become laureates National rating of influence "Elite of Ukraine"-2021.
Today's interlocutor of the agency is the director of the department of investment and foreign economic activity, international cooperation and tourism of the Odesa regional state administration Roman Hrygoryshyn.
- The last time we spoke with you was six months ago. Have new prospects for the development of the investment climate in the Odessa region appeared during this time?
— It is necessary to understand the conditions in which we live now. However, I personally look at the situation with the pandemic and the geopolitical situation as a period of opportunity. We opened the Regional Development Agency with an investment office, it began to be implemented and works closely with the OTG. We launched and presented the website "Investment Map of the Regions of Ukraine". This map has been translated into two languages, and is now being translated into Arabic. By the way, 50% of the site is filled with flagship investment projects in the Odessa region. This provoked activity from those who were not on this map. Now they actively send proposals, invite the Agency and communicate. The process started.
We are almost at the final stage of the pilot project. David Arahamiya came to the opening of the Agency, where we presented our work. At the moment, we are planning a large meeting of key officials who work in this industry. The goal is for everyone to agree on actions regarding the ProUkraine project and its integration throughout the country. I can't say that everything is moving as fast as I would like, but there is a positive dynamic - and that's good.
— Regarding investments...
In fact, investors' interest in our region is not waning. As there was interest from one of the Turkish producers, who is looking in the direction of transferring production from Turkey to Ukraine, he remained; as the Chinese and Italians traveled, so they travel. We had a large delegation from Fujian province, with whom we signed an agreement; we will have a large delegation from Poland, where I flew to the forum. These are not some officials, but directly businessmen who are interested in economic expansion.
— Are they just interested or are they ready to enter our market?
- They are ready. Someone starts with real estate, someone starts projects to open factories...
— Do you have statistics on how many large investors have come to our region per hour?
— From my first working day, I asked this question to my subordinates, then to the Ministry of Economy. Investments are considered mainly based on data from the National Bank: what went in, what was spent, what was registered as an investment. But I used to be in the commercial sector, we bought enterprises in the Shiryaevsky district with the money of Iranian businessmen, with the money of the state Iranian agricultural holding, and I am not sure that they got into the statistics. The local head of the OTG "heard something", but did not record on paper that a large investor came to them and bought the enterprise for 5 million dollars.
- Why does this happen? Do you need a marketing strategy, a specific set of measures?
- That's right. For example, a Turkish investor comes to us conditionally and says that he is interested in a location for production near the ports. Now we show him something, poke at points on the map, etc. And it should be in step with the times - when you show the locations of interest to him on the interactive map, at the same time, everything has already been calculated according to the standards, there are pre-project solutions, there are clean sites. When there is digitalization, and the proposals themselves are presented in a language that is understandable to a person.
Last year we created the infrastructure and the product, and this year we are going out with the flag and shouting "investors, come here!" not logical But almost every month we have planned participation in some international events. We are focused on working with determined investors. They travel with the Regional Development Agency around the region, look at suitable sites, and familiarize them with the territories of the OTG.
— You recently reported on Odesa's submission of an application to host the World Expo "Expo-2030" in the competition. What is happening now with this application and is this initiative even real?
— Previously, Odessa "flew" past all the main international events in Ukraine: this is Eurobasket, Eurovision, and much more. That's why the idea came up — let's apply for participation in the EXPO. If they consider Europe to host the ECRO, then it is Rome, Odessa and Moscow. But the exhibition was already held in Italy in 2015, and will not be held there again. In fact, only Odessa and Moscow remain. And this is cooler than the Olympics. It's a month, and EXPO is 6 months.
By the way, in Ukraine, Dnipro and Lviv were also proposed as cities, but none of them have free 1000 hectares, but we have them. I'm talking about the fields of filtration. Yes, this is a problematic territory, but we can solve this problem.
Odessa is a very rich city with architecture and history. But what is left of that old Odessa? Where are we going? There is no global goal, except to put a few more benches, to build two more residential complexes... And EXPO can become such a global message that unites.
For example, I am from the Servant of the People party, and deputy Petr Obukhov is from the European Solidarity Party. We seem to be irreconcilable enemies, but we are working together on this project, there is no political discussion between us. I came to Odessa from Western Ukraine, and Chechens, Arabs, Russians, Greeks, Bulgarians, and Romanians also live here. And there is a "chip" that can unite everyone around.
— What difficulties exist on our ECHR path?
— The electoral period of the winning city consists of 3 stages... We are now in the second of them. The first stage was the presentation of the city, which we held on December 14, 2021. Now we are at the stage of preparing the dossier - this is a global document similar to a business plan, which is prepared by large auditing companies. We must submit this dossier by the end of this summer.
— Does the contractor have to be one, or will it be a group of companies?
— The document is 500 pages long, with about 16 sections. Someone can do the architectural concept, someone the philosophy of the project, someone paints the business process, someone - tourism, someone - media composing...
— When will this file be presented and what will happen next?
It will be presented at the General Assembly of the International Bureau of Exhibitions, most likely in the fall.
But the most important thing is lobbying, preparation for voting, knowing which country supports whom. But again, the vote is secret, and it is important to understand what the geopolitical situation will be at the time of the vote, how our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will work. It is important who will be supported by big countries — USA, France, Britain, Germany. Countries that have an influence on the international politics of small states are especially important. The voting itself will take place at the end of 2023.
It is interesting that Russia submitted to the EXPO three previous times, but never even made it to the finals.
— Will we be able to use this documentation in the future?
Of course. After all, "under EHRO" we will put in order the territory of the Irrigation Fields, etc. This is the foundation for change. We can also change the transport component.
— How many large investors visited us last year?
— I will answer this question not as the director of the department, but as a person who understands investments. I do not recognize the official numbers. I will tell you about my experience again - in the Odesa region, a company was bought with Iranian funds, but the statistics do not show this.
Plus, it's hard to actually calculate. For example, they bought an enterprise for 1 million dollars. Let's be honest - part of the money went officially, and part - in cash. And this investor gave new jobs. What are the numbers to count here?
Or there is information that Odessa is one of the largest concentrations of cryptocurrency owners in Ukraine, which is among the top five countries in terms of the amount of cryptocurrency. But, again, there is no accounting.
— The geopolitical situation greatly affects the investment climate. I would like to hear your opinion, what is happening in the country and why are we so "fever"?
— It intuitively seems to me that there will be no war, but I expect maximum pressure and an increase in rates. It's a pity for our country, because we are just hostages of the situation. But on the other hand, I look at it as an opportunity. We are known, we have been heard all over the world, and I hope they will help us.
Interviewed by Elena Ovchinnikova
Photos: Nina Lyashonok
