The Infrastructure Ministry will guarantee protection of private investors’ investments and maximum transparency of operations, Infrastructure Minister Maksym Burbak said during the roundtable "Development of the Port Industry: the Key Priorities and Directions," which was organized by the European Business Association in partnership with the Center for Transport Strategies.
Burbak also stressed that the reforms supported by the community of expert should be introduced as quickly as possible. "Even unpopular reforms need to be implemented and implemented very quickly. We are losing the competition for freight traffic," said the minister.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dmytro Demydovych stressed the need for continuity of the reforms initiated in the port industry. At the same time, he said that concession contracts are currently the instrument that investors understand the most.
The representatives of private businesses that participated in the roundtable drew the minister’s attention to the need to develop port infrastructure, as well as to improve working conditions for investors.
The Brooklyn-Kiev company’s head Yurii Hubankov said that he spent two years obtaining permission to build a terminal and 1.5 years obtaining a loan from the EBRD. "For an investor, such periods are unacceptable," said Hubankov. He also urged the government not to concentrate solely on concession contracts for ports, but to also think about the possibility of privatization.
The Portinvest holding’s Director Oleksandr Smirnov proposed that the new minister assess the effectiveness of the work of port directors in terms of attraction of investment and the volume of cargo handling.
The Minister of Infrastructure assured those present of his intention to actively involve experts in further reform of the transport industry.
