President of the American Chamber of Commerce: Changes in Ukraine facilitate business in the country

Real changes in the country indicate that business climate in Ukraine has improved, said Andriy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, during the 8th Kyiv Security Forum organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation.

“I would like to dwell upon the positive trends. Business developments of the last 6 month are extremely important as it could demonstrate to the whole world that there are changes indeed in Ukraine,” – he said.

Andriy Hunder considers the introduction of 3G technologies in Ukraine to be one of the brightest examples of improvement of the business climate. “The business community says that it is the most positive tender in the history of Ukraine. That means the changes are visible,” – he added.

At the same time, President of the American Chamber of Commerce pointed out that the reformation process is still pending and it cannot be fast. “We understand that this is not a sprint but a marathon. In some cases it is even more like race walking,” – he said.

According to Andriy Hunder, foreign investors see Ukraine primarily as “a country at war”. However, despite this trend, over 90% of foreign businessmen keep on working in Ukraine, he said.

After A.Hunder as soon as Ukraine solves its security problems, business will flow into the country.

However, he underlined the importance of combating corruption, where inevitability of punishment must become a key instrument: “Corruption remains. The inevitability of punishment is a very important principle that we do not always see. If it is implemented, one will be able to say that this government is fighting corruption indeed”. 

For your information:
The annual international event ‘Kyiv Security Forum’, established by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation in 2007 is a platform for discussion of the most pressing issues concerning the security in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum is aimed at promoting security cooperation between the European Union and the Black Sea Region, raising awareness of the development of security among key players and strengthening the role of independent and non-governmental actors in solving security problems in Europe.