HOW TO UNLOCK USD 800 BILLION TO REBUILD UKRAINE

Global business leaders urge the Ukrainian Government to put world class
anti-bribery and corruption systems in place to unlock foreign investment,
says research commissioned by Kyiv International Economic Forum
(KIEF) and the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF).
Research released today ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin,
conducted with global business leaders representing companies with over USD
5 trillion in combined revenue and employing over 20 million people, shows they
are poised to support Ukraine’s economic renewal. Just over 7 in 10 (72%) of
them say ‘Our company would like to establish a connection with Ukraine to help
it rebuild and prosper after the conflict’ and a similar percentage (71%)
confirmed ‘Our company would consider prioritising doing business with Ukraine
as part of our corporate social purpose’. Financially, it also makes sense as 3 in
4 (75%) also believe ‘The global economy should rebound quickly once the
Ukraine conflict ends’ and understandably 77% implore their country to do more
to support companies doing business with Ukraine.
However, business leaders issue the challenge to unlock this investment to the
Ukrainian Government as 8 in 10 (81%) said ‘The Ukrainian Government needs
to have world class anti-bribery and corruption regulations and enforcement to
unlock Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)’.
Yurii Pyvovarov, CEO – Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) said:
“For context, the research has shown us that 34% of leaders are under extreme
pressure to developed markets while 19% also need to improve anti-bribery and
corruption. They’re not willing to put up with any bribery and corruption in these
new markets as a trade-off. It’s a highly competitive global marketplace and it’s a
race to see who will reach these world class regulations and enforcement to
unlock this opportunity”.
The impact of breaching bribery and corruption regulations can be catastrophic
for companies, with leaders estimating an average of 45% of corporate value /
market cap disappearing if convicted. The damage can also be multidimensional
as reputational damage (41%), lost customers (39%) and even employees
leaving (27%) are considered likely. Summing this up, 3 in 4 (76%) agree that
‘Global companies have too much to lose by breaching anti-bribery and
corruption regulations to win contracts.’ and 96% would seriously consider
reporting it if they came across it in the course of doing business.’
Anatoliy Amelin, Executive Director – Ukrainian Institute for the Future
added:
“Regulations like the ‘US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’ and ‘UK Bribery Act’
obligate companies with American or British offices to adhere to these
regulations globally. The research also shows that 59% expect these regulations
will increase and 50% of companies researched are already going beyond these
minimal requirements – linking with their ESG rating and corporate social
purpose.”
Global business leaders also have a preference to work with Ukrainian
companies, with 76% considering ‘Having a business partner in Ukraine would
help with a speedy and effective FDI there’ and 2 in 3 (66%) preferring such a
private sector partner for ‘Understanding the business, social and political
environment’ rather than the Ukrainian State sector.
The ‘top 10’ key drivers and obstacles for the Ukrainian Government to consider
from the research are:
Yurii Pyvovarov, CEO – Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) said:
‘The challenge for rebuilding after the conflict isn’t just the sole responsibility of
the Ukrainian government, so we commissioned the research to help shine a
light on the potential of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and business
opportunities in Ukraine to global businesses and to help Ukrainian businesses
and the Government understand what can be done to support this.’
Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) is one of the largest international
forums in Eastern Europe that brings together representatives of business,
government, and society to discuss key economic issues and global trends. Its
mission is to promote Ukraine’s integration into the global community as the
most promising player.
https://forumkyiv.org
The Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF) is an independent think-tank, which
forecasts changes and designs possible scenarios in Ukraine, provides expert
analysis of the developments in Ukrainian foreign and domestic policies,
provides specific recommendations for policy action, proposes effective
solutions and offers a discussion platform of current topics. UIF is a joint project
of the Ukrainian representatives of business, politics, and public sector.

Notes to editors
The USD 800 billion sum was derived by calculating the amount of present
global revenue that respondents estimated would be available for investment
into Ukraine over the next 2 years. This is only based on the n=1,407 leaders
from large companies we researched across the 12 countries. See further
information on the research methodology below.
A PDF report summarizing the research findings is attached with this release.
For further information contact:
[email protected]
London – Jon Aarons
Kyiv – Myron Wasylyk
Berlin – Hendrik Hagemann
www.rudpedersen.com
Research Methodology
Research was conducted online 22-30 May 2024 and respondents were selected using a quota
based simple random sample (SRS) method.
The screening criteria was:

Based in the country.
Private or Publicly Listed company.
In a large company (> 250 employees, > USD$50m turnover, >USD$43m balance sheet).
Leadership role and FDI knowledge / involved in decision making.
A total of n=1,407 screened leaders took part in the research with a MoE +/-3% (95% CI).
A weighted base of over n=100 from the 12 counties to ensure an equal representation.
Countries selected for research form a good representation of G7, EU, NATO and European
corporates.
The 12 countries and 6 language options were (where English was the default):
USA , UK, Canada, Germany (German), France (French), Italy (Italian), Japan (Japanese),
Canada, Norway, Denmark, Poland (Polish), Netherlands and Sweden.
For more information on the research methodology, contact: [email protected]