Investors cannot protect their property in Ukraine

The experts do not agree with the government’s claims that the war plays a decisive role in the deterioration of the investment climate in Ukraine, the Human Rights Information Centre correspondent reports.

“Struggling for political ambitions, politicians claim that war prevents from investing and developing the country. In fact, we agree with investors like George Soros and the organizations like the World Bank that development of Ukraine is obstructed not by war, but by corruption, the lack of uniform rules of the game for everyone, and, first and foremost, the lack of justice and law effect. This is the direct responsibility of the authorities,” co-founder and head of the project “Open Court” Stanislav Batryn says.

Andriy Klymenko, Director General of the Alla Company, notes that Ukraine has great potential for doing business and investors are really interested in Ukraine.

“We are cooperating with the venture companies and private investors, who want to invest in Ukraine. They come, find out the way how the rights and property are being protected in Ukraine, and say they are not ready to invest. At the same time, they say not a single word about the war,” he says.

According to Mykhailo Datsenko, spokesperson for the U.S.-Ukrainian Business Council, Ukraine has not done enough to teach the society to obey the rule of law.

“No property in Ukraine is now protected enough for the foreign investors to safely invest their money. At the same time, the American investors realize that Ukraine has the potential, but it is necessary to reform the law and to develop the principles of judicial conduct to unlock this potential,” Mykhailo Datsenko says.

“Ukraine loses its investment attractiveness because of legislation drawbacks. There are no mechanisms for adherence to contracts, and the illegal seizures occur. So, Ukraine badly needs to protect foreign investment. This is a key issue for the development of any country,” Jocelyn Guitton, Trade Affairs Manager of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, stresses.

In turn, Yaroslava Johnson, President of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, mentions that results of reforms should be shown to the foreign investors, “Reforms are conducted only on paper, but no one sees them in real life. It is necessary to change the behavior of judges, make court more transparent for people to see what is happening.”

As a reminder, the experts called on the Constitutional Commission and the President to consider the proposals from the public on the eve of adoption of the draft amendments in terms of judiciary.

They note that, despite the conclusions of the Venice Commission, the amendments retain a layered and intricate judicial system, do not provide for renewal of the judiciary, and step up the dependence of the judges on political bodies, in particular, on the president.

As a reminder, only 9% of Ukrainians trust the Ukrainian courts, while 81% express their distrust of courts, according to results of the poll, conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation.