During a working trip to the Zakarpattia region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with top managers and owners of leading companies - members of the Z 100 club in order to hear from business representatives problematic issues that need to be addressed.
Head of the Federation of Employers of Zakarpattia Volodymyr Panov called for the introduction of mechanisms that would help attract investors to the region. He noted that in the period from 2001 to 2004, when there was a special regime of investment activities in the Zakarpattia region and free economic zones, about 20 thousand jobs were created, eight plants were built and about 30 enterprises were modernized.
"We need a set of tools. The more tools to attract investment we have, the sooner a global investor will pay attention to us,” Volodymyr Panov said.
The President noted that benefits in free economic zones were abolished in 2005 due to abuse in some FEZs. At the same time, the President said that the Verkhovna Rada voted in the first reading for the bill on "investment nannies", which contains a number of incentives for investors.
In particular, the document provides for state support of large investment projects by concluding an agreement with the government and providing these projects with guarantees of implementation and tax benefits.
"This law provides for the amount of benefits that can be provided to investment entities up to 30% of the project cost, preferential import and taxation of purchases for the formation of key assets, deferral or abolition of income tax and so on," Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko noted.
"I hope that this bill will soon be approved by people's deputies in general and submitted to me for signature," Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.
The issue of labor migration and the imperfection of the education system was also raised. The business supported the creation of a system of retraining and adaptation of free staff for market needs.
"The Ministry of Education and Science must develop a program to support vocational education, which no one has done for many years. This reform will be presented to the public," the President said in response.
To fulfill the President's task, the government must prepare a new program to promote employment and stimulate job creation. The Cabinet of Ministers should also consider introducing a dual form of education.
Head of the Zakarpattia Union of Private Winegrowers and Winemakers Oleksandr Kovach spoke about the barriers to the development of family winemaking. In particular, the condition for the creation of a family farm is the availability of a land plot of two hectares. Given the scarcity of land in Zakarpattia, not every small farmer has the opportunity to own or rent 2 hectares or more of agricultural land.
The President urged the government to pay special attention to small-scale production in the field of viticulture and winemaking.
The parties also raised the issues of overpriced electricity for consumers in the region, problems of transport and logistics, including queues at border checkpoints, improving rail and air services to develop investment and tourism potential of the Zakarpattia region.
