An investment forum "Kharkiv: Restart", dedicated to the restoration of the city of Kharkiv, was held at CEC Parkovy

An investment forum "Kharkiv: Restart", dedicated to the restoration of the city of Kharkiv, was held at CEC Parkovy.

The event was attended by Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk, People’s Deputy, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Government Office for Attracting and Supporting “UkraineInvest” Investments Davyd Arakhamia, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Danylo Getmantsev, People’s Deputies, representatives of state agencies, international investors, industrial enterprises, etc.

Topics of panel discussions were: "Kharkiv: New Challenges, Development Strategy and International Partnership"; "IT industry, innovative developments and technologies - the future development of Ukraine"; "Openness and transparency of the work of municipalities is the key to strategic partnership"; "New tools for attracting investment in the cities of Ukraine"; "Investments in Kharkiv: Challenges and Opportunities."

At the event, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov presented city development projects that are attractive to investors.

Among them – the project "Lopanska embankment," which involves the creation of open space for recreation and creativity, "Suburban station "Levada" with a modern transport hub and shopping and entertainment cultural center. Ihor Terekhov also told investors about the modern microdistrict "city inside the city" on Alekseevka, where the construction of new housing, offices and social facilities is provided. In addition, he presented the Scientific Park project – an innovative mixed-use microdistrict, the reconstruction of Railway Station Square and the creation of a unique green zone in the Zhuravlovsky Hydropark.

"We attract credit resources of European banks. Many projects concern transport infrastructure. For example, the creation of a municipal taxi service on electric vehicles. We also plan to develop "green" energy," – said the mayor of Kharkiv.

Kharkiv city authorities are ready to accompany each investor, provide all possible conditions in industrial parks, benefits, allocate land, and connect objects to city communications.

The Kharkiv City Council is working with the architectural bureau of the British architect Norman Foster to create a new Master Plan for the development of the city. Measures within the framework of this cooperation are financed by the German government, as agreed in London. In particular, the economic model of Kharkiv is developed by specialists from Oxford and Harvard universities.

Also, within the framework of the forum, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov held talks with the звʼязків manager with government agencies of Philip Morris Ukraine PrAT Mykhailo Samolyak and the director of Skoda Transportation Ukraine LLC Konstantin Zhizhko. In particular, Skoda is most interested in cooperation and is ready to consider new areas of work. The parties discussed the acquisition of rolling stock for the subway, electric buses, trolleybuses and trams from the company for Kharkiv.

In addition, agreements were reached on the investment of “International Business Machines Corporation” (USA) in the development of digital technologies for the Kharkiv Smart City project. American partners are ready to allocate 200 thousand dollars of volunteer assistance until the end of 2023. Digital applications for assessing the level of damage to houses hit by enemy missiles will significantly speed up the process of their restoration.

Another important area of work at the forum was the signing of new agreements on cooperation between cities for the reconstruction of the city and the country – a Memorandum of Understanding between Kharkiv and Cincinnati (USA), as well as an agreement on the establishment of partnerships between the cities of Kharkiv and Kosice (Slovakia).

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov also met with representatives of the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce. The parties discussed future cooperation and the experience of implementing projects by the Canadian-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine during a full-scale war. Ihor Terekhov noted that the city is interested in developing trade relations with Canada and improving business conditions in Kharkiv.

As a result of the event, it was noted that Kharkiv could become the most comfortable city in Ukraine. This opinion was expressed by the head of the Office for Attracting and Supporting Investments "UkraineInvest" Maksym Bondarenko. He said that since the beginning of the full-scale war, UkraineInvest has been accompanying more than 30 projects worth $2.7 billion, including projects in Kharkiv.

"The city has the potential to be the most comfortable in Ukraine. Given the number of people living there, this is a great potential of the workforce for enterprises that will be created in the near future," – said Maksym Bondarenko.