PMR Research is a specialised custom market research unit of PMR Ltd., a British-American company based in Poland. We offer a wide range of research services in Central and Eastern Europe for companies interested in business over the countries in the region.

Research services provided by PMR Research in Ukraine include:

• brand and company image studies
• research on customer preferences, their satisfaction and their purchasing habits
• product concept tests
• usage & attitude studies
• internet surveys
• quantitative surveys - telephone, CATI, face-to-face
• qualitative research - focus groups, IDIs
• industry analyses (comprehensive analyses of given market sectors performed using PMR's proprietary methodology PMR MarketInsight)
• preparation of databases
• fieldwork services

Why to invest?

46 mln people market Industrial traditions Low costs utilities Introducing legal changes Interesting natural resources Euro 2012 football games speed up changes and creates extra investment possibilities Gateway to Russia Well developed railway transport

Business and economical environment

Ukraine has strong industrial and agricultural traditions resulting from the former Soviet Union times and despite a poor governmental management record since the times of independence, it offers to those with a higher level of risk acceptance, interesting investment opportunities in such industries as machinery building, automotive sector, consumer electronics, ICT, agriculture and food processing, aerospace industry, alternative energy sources as well as tourism and hotel infrastructure. The country has a population of 46mn people, creating an attractive market by itself and provides easy access to Russia with a near 100% Russian-speaking population as its first or second language. Future development is fuelled by the Euro 2012 football tournament that Ukraine has been assigned jointly with neighbouring Poland and has much more to catch up with than its neighbour and partner in this venture. The key advantages of the Ukraine are its low cost labour force, access to natural resources, low operational costs (most of the electric power is produced in atomic power plants) as well as a skilled workforce in some areas. As the road transport has been neglected for a longer time a major way of moving goods across and outside the country is rail which is well developed. Thus the Ukraine may offer hard to beat benefits to investors in certain cases and should always be regarded especially if someone is looking further into Russia or the Black Sea basin. Ukraine is rich in natural resources such as iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulphur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, and arable land.


Real GDP growth in 2007 amounted to 7.6% what was 0.5 percentage point higher than the result for 2006. However, in 2008 as the crisis hit the mining and steel industries fuelling the growth of the Ukrainian economy the GDP hiked by just 2.1%. Current forecast assume the reversion of the trend observed till 2008 and shrinkage of the Ukrainian economy by 9% of the GDP with slight recovery possible in 2010 at the level of 0.5%. One of the reasons will be decreasing exports by 10% according to the 2009 forecasts, however, the reduction in imports is forecasted on even deeper level of 26% in 2009. Recovery will not be seen earlier than in 2010. The export of goods amounted in 2008 to EUR 58.23bn while imports amounted to EUR 68.11bn what meant a 6.7% and 17.5% change respectively compared with the 2007.

Despite of the current economical downturn Ukraine still offers promising investment opportunities. Direct foreign investments in 2008 has amounted EUR 6.58bn and were 5% higher than recorded in 2007. The net FDI forecasts for 2009 and 2010 assume values of EUR 2.3bn and EUR 5.5bn respectively. One of the Ukraine advantages are still low labour costs as average wages amounted at EUR 234 in 2008 (compared with EUR 195 in 2007) and forecasts for 2009 assume a decrease of average wages paid in the Ukraine to just EUR 180.

The unemployment rate in Ukraine has been decreasing gradually reaching values of 6.8% in 2006 and 6.4% in 2007 and 2008. As the forecasts assume recession for 2009 the unemployment rate may easily reach the 11.8% and stay at the level above 10% also in 2010. However, it must be emphasized that Ukraine has both high levels of unregistered unemployment and grey economy.
In terms of inflation it remains an unsolved problem of the Ukrainian economy with the 2008 record of the 25.2% meaning a nearly twofold increase in comparison with 2007. However, the forecasts for coming years assume reducing the price increase pace as the economy will cool down and rates of 15.8% and 11.5% in 2009 and 2010 are expected.

Social environment

Ukraine is said to suffer a demographic crisis for its high death rate and a low birth rate. The current Ukrainian birth rate is 9.55 births/1,000 people (2008) and the death rate is 15.93 deaths/1,000 people (2008). The main reasons for this situation are high mortality rate among working-age males caused by alcohol poisoning and smoking. It is worth mentioning that in 2007, the country's population was declining at the fourth fastest rate in the world. Ukrainian government is trying to introduce social packages to prevent the society from sudden decline and already the demographic trend is showing signs of improvement. Net population growth over the first nine months of 2007 was registered in five provinces of the country (out of 24), and population shrinkage was showing signs of stabilization.
Another Ukraine’s challenge is the emigration especially to the neighbouring EU countries as people search for better work conditions.

Infrastructure and technological environment

Ukrainian road system is can be regarded as highly outdated. Therefore, given the EURO 2012 football championship Ukrainian government has pledged to build some 4,500 km of motorways. In total, Ukrainian paved roads amount to 164,732 km.

Rail transport in Ukraine also plays very important role of connecting all major urban areas, port facilities and industrial centres with neighbouring countries. The heaviest concentration of railroad track is located in the Donbas region of Ukraine, which is still one of the world's highest rail users. The total amount of railroad track in Ukraine extends for 22,473 km, of which 9,250 km is electrified.

Ukraine is also one of Europe’s largest energy consumers with the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, being its major energy source. Ukraine consumes almost double the energy of Germany, calculated per unit of GDP.

Political environment

Ukraine is a democracy under a semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive and judicial branches. The President of Ukraine (elected by popular vote) nominates the Prime Minister. Laws, acts of the Parliament and the Cabinet, Presidential edicts and acts of the Crimean parliament (Autonomous Republic of Crimea) may be nullified by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, when they are found to violate the Constitution of Ukraine. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction.

Formerly, Ukraine was an important agricultural and industrial region of the Soviet Union, and now depends on Russia for most of its energy supplies, especially natural gas. The current government has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatisation are still lagging. Outside institutions, particularly the IMF, have encouraged Ukraine to speed up the reforms and have threatened to withdraw financial support. The fact that Ukraine can be characterised by political uncertainty contributes to raising financing costs as the risk aversion of private investors.

In December 2008 Ukraine’s parliament also announced the formation of a new pro-west governing coalition. This move could help the country respond to the global economic crisis. In 2010 Ukraine is to held presidential elections.

The country will not become a member of the EU in the foreseeable future, the local currency is unstable, social problems persist and high taxes keep an important part of the economy in the shadow zone.

General data

Area: 603,700 sq km
Population: 45.99mn
Capital city: Kiev (Kyiv)
Language: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
Ethnic groups: Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001)
Land boundaries: Belarus 891 km, Russia 1,576 km, Romania 538 km, Moldova 940 km, Hungary 103 km, Slovakia 90 km, Poland 428 km

Major economic indicators

	2006	2007	2008	2009f	2010f
GDP (EUR bn)	84.8	103.1	123.4	93.0	112.0
Population (mn)	46.9	46.6	46.4	46.1	45.8
GDP per capita (EUR)	1,808	2,210	2,661	2,018	2,445
GDP (constant prices y-o-y %)	7.1	7.6	2.1	-9.0	0.5
Exports, real, y-o-y (%)	-7.6	2.8	6.7	-10.0	9.0
Imports, real, y-o-y (%)	13.2	20.2	17.5	-26.0	3.2
CPI (average, y-o-y %)	9.1	12.8	25.2	15.8	11.5
Central bank reference rate	8.50	8.00	12.00	11.50	10.00
Monthly wage, nominal (EUR)	164	195	234	180	203
Unemployment rate (%)	6.8	6.4	6.4	11.8	10.4
Net FDI (EUR bn)	4.6	6.7	6.8	2.3	5.5
FDI % GDP	5.4	6.5	5.5	2.4	4.9
FX reserves (EUR bn)	16.6	21.8	19.3	11.2	8.6
Exchange rate to USD AVG	5.04	5.05	5.24	8.17	7.73
Exchange rate to EUR AVG	6.34	6.92	7.70	10.60	10.16

Last update: Q2 2009

Useful data

Currency: Hryvnia (UAH)
Time zone: GMT +2
Area code: +380

If you would like to find out more on the Ukrainian market opportunities please do not hesitate to contact us directly:
phone: (48 12) 618 90 80
faks (48 12) 618 90 08
e-mail: [email protected]

Ukraine Examples of projects