President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the presentation of the audit of the state's economy, which was carried out at his initiative. The audit is the starting point for the development of the National Economic Strategy of Ukraine until 2030.
"State audit is a way to get the right answers to all important questions. For the first time, a comprehensive analysis of the state of Ukraine was made to understand exactly where and what mistakes were made over the years," the President said in his speech during the presentation of the audit in Kyiv.
According to him, the purpose of the audit is not to find the culprits in the person of predecessors, but to analyze the complexes that have hampered the country's progress and now have to be a thing of the past.
"All this time, Ukraine has been just too modest. It was ashamed to dream. To dream boldly, to dream ambitiously," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He noted that based on the results of the audit, the government will present the main vectors of development of the Ukrainian economy until 2030, so that everyone clearly understands where it will move and why.
"In order to constantly grow, realize the existing potential and create new, breakthrough ideas. Not to catch up, but to be a few steps ahead," the Head of State stressed.
Based on the audit and vectors, the National Economic Strategy until 2030 will be created, which should become not a non-binding declaration, but a key plan and roadmap for all branches of government in Ukraine.
"I know that the government has already begun to work actively on this, involving many experts, business representatives, the public, international analysts and scientists," the President said.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this strategy should become a great national idea of Ukraine and should not change with each new President, parliament or government.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov backed the Head of State noting that one of the basic components of achieving success is a correctly set task.
"To walk the path to success, you need to have a strategy of movement. And for these movements and steps to be effective, you need to understand what resources you can use today. To have this understanding, you need an audit," he said.
Dmytro Razumkov assured on behalf of the Verkhovna Rada and MPs that he was "ready to join, help and promote any constructive, effective development of all good initiatives".
Presenting the results of the audit, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal noted that the unrealized potential of our country is 1 trillion US dollars. And the task of the government is its implementation. This became clear after assessing the natural, geographical and human potential of Ukraine.
According to the Prime Minister, the unrealized potential of Ukrainian land alone is $ 85 billion, subsoil - $ 409 billion, water - $ 12 billion, and forests - $ 40 billion. The unrealized potential of Ukraine's geographical location is estimated at the level of $ 407 billion.
According to the audit, during the years of independence, Ukraine has shown much lower rates of economic growth than the countries of Central Europe. This has affected the well-being of the population, in particular the level of GDP has grown by 85% since 1996, while in Central Europe this figure was 125%. Per capita, Ukraine's GDP is now 5.2 times lower than the European average.
Since 1991, Ukraine has lost much of its technology industry and high-margin agriculture, while low value-added services have expanded.
There are problems with labor resources. According to the audit, 3.3 million people are unofficially employed in our country. Ukraine also loses in labor productivity - GVA per employee is 5.5 times lower than in Central Europe.
Low labor productivity is partly due to insufficient investment - the share of fixed capital investment in Ukraine's GDP is 18% (for comparison in Central Europe, this figure is 22%).
According to the Prime Minister, on the basis of these data, economic vectors have been identified that will be able to ensure the recovery and future growth of Ukraine’s economy.
In 29 years, when the free disposal of land was limited, the state lost more than 5 million hectares. After the launch of the land market, Ukraine's GDP will receive additional 85 billion dollars in 10 years.
In Ukraine, there are more than 12.1 thousand explored mineral deposits, and only 4.6 thousand of them, i.e. actually a third, are being developed. Increasing the extraction of minerals will create a basis for the manufacture of high-tech products with added value.
By supporting exports and trade diplomacy, it is possible to increase merchandise exports to the East, Africa, Latin America and beyond.
Today, the tactical task for the Ministry of Strategic Industries is to ensure new export contracts worth $ 1 billion over the next year.
Ukraine's investment potential is estimated at $ 63 billion. Therefore, the creation of a favorable business climate and the restoration of trust in government, key sectoral initiatives, functional and cross-cutting initiatives are among the identified vectors.
"The government has identified 30 priority projects by 2030. These are the vectors that will form the basis of our long-term development strategy," Denys Shmyhal said.
Experts, government and business representatives, scientists, leading Ukrainian think tanks, international analysts, MPs and business associations are involved in the development of the National Economic Strategy - 2030.