Ukraine : Opportunities and Challenges for Private Sector Development

Ukraine has untapped growth potential. Ukraine has one of the most fertile agricultural lands in the world, an attractive geographical location in Europe, bordering the European Union, the largest market in the world with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than $16 trillion, and a large domestic market of almost 50 million consumers. This note argues that the stunted growth of the private sector goes a long way in explaining Ukraine's poor growth performance. The tepid private sector growth is reflected in: the stagnant structure of the country's exports, where old industries such as steel, machine building and chemicals continue to predominate, operating at low levels of industrial productivity, which has grown at a much slow pace than in peer countries in the last decade; the low inflow of high value-added Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), especially in export-oriented manufacturing; and the relatively limited role of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the development of the economy. All of these factors suggest that the market-driven process of entrepreneurship, innovation and productivity does not seem to work properly, undermining Ukraine's growth prospects. The note identifies weaknesses in the regulatory environment, limited access to finance and lack of competition as the main constraints to private sector development and offers short-and medium-term policy reform options. The note is structured as follows. The first chapter uncovers the roots of the tepid private sector growth. The following three chapters focus on the three main constraints to private sector development, reviewing weaknesses on the business regulatory framework, access to finance, and competition, and providing recommendations. The last chapter concludes.