06 December 2014

Ukraine needs to get serious about Foreign Investors

In these hard times for the country, one would have thought that Ukraine would be welcoming foreign investors with open arms. Oh no.

The BBCU has a long track record of helping foreign companies in Ukraine. Admittedly these are not all multi-million dollar enterprises but they are all investors, where non-residents are bringing their own money to Ukraine to establish new businesses or to complete a trade agreement with a Ukraine based company. Naturally both include some foreign nationals working in Ukraine. Therefore they need a work permit and residents permits to stay here.

All of these foreign 'directors/managers' create local jobs and start to employ Ukrainian nationals.
This is want the country needs.

But try telling this to the decision makers at the Kyiv Employment Centre who are responsible for processing the vast amounts of paperwork we submit for each work permit for foreigners to work and develop their businesses here in Ukraine. If there is an excuse to delay or reject an application they are sure to find it. THINGS HAVE NOT CHANGED IN UKRAINE. In fact they might have got worse.

One of our client companies has already invested millions of dollars in to Ukraine over the past few years but still needs to bring nationals from its own country to provide training to local employees and help develop the business. But the process for obtaining work permits for this client is proving a major challenge with the 'forces of bureaucracy' in the Kyiv Employment Centre.

These foreign nationals are NOT displacing jobs from locals. Moreover, they are actually helping to create more jobs. The ONLY help these foreign companies need from the government of Ukraine is a few pieces of paper (ie work permits) to help investment to continue. Is that too much to ask?

Before anyone asks....we never pay bribes. :) Maybe here is the reason?

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