Zelensky visits Abu Dhabi, pledges to boost trade

During the official visit of President Zelensky to the
United Arab Emirates on Feb. 14-15, the Ukrainian delegation “signed a number
of memorandums and contracts totaling USD 3 bln or more,” according to
Zelensky’s press service.

 

A member of the delegation, the current advisor to the
head of the presidential office and former Economy Minister Tymofiy Mylovanov,
stated that the crown prince of Abu Dhabi had instructed his team to “increase
bilateral trade and agricultural investments in Ukraine ten-fold in several
years, that is to reach USD 2 bln a year.”

 

CEO of Ukroboronprom Yuriy Gusev signed agreements and
contracts with Tawazun Economic Council and EDGE Group to expand
military-technical cooperation totaling more than USD 1 bln. The agreement with
EDGE on military and technical cooperation will allow the exchange and
development of advanced technologies, Zelensky’s press service stressed.

 

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
signed a memorandum with INTELMAX Management Consulting, which provides for
cooperation on the creation of a platform for the exchange of intellectual
property based on the Fantom blockchain, which will provide increased security
and transparency. It is also planned to introduce blockchain technologies into
government processes and services.

 

“At all international meetings, I urge to invest
in Ukraine. Our state has enormous potential: geopolitical position, natural
resources, people of knowledge. Right now is the time to understand this
potential and create a strong economy,” Zelensky said. He added that
attracting investment is the key to Ukraine’s economic growth. “The
signing of a memorandum with the Mubadala investment company of the government
of Abu Dhabi on intentions to invest in Ukraine is a very important step in
opening the way for major investments in Ukraine from Western Asia,”
Zelensky said.

 

According to the Office of the President of Ukraine,
opening of a Ukrainian sovereign fund for joint investments is also being
considered. “Along with this, some 18 Ukrainian private companies, …
signed memorandums with the Mubadala state investment fund,” the
presidential office added.

 

Yuri Svirko: Attracting
investment is always good and going abroad for that is also good, especially
when tangible results are reached. In this context, Zelensky’s visit to the UAE
seems to be more promising than his visit to Oman last year, which was also
positioned as an investment-targeted one. However, playing with figures like
one, two or three billion might be not as promising as official reports.

 

It is worth to remind that the UAE ambassador to
Ukraine publicly praised the bilateral trade at the level of USD 0.67 bln in
2017 and USD 0.96 bln in 2018, hoping to reach USD 1.5 bln in 2019. Ukraine’s
official figures of goods trade showed just USD 0.57 bln for 2018 and USD 0.61
bln for 2019, with Ukrainian exports of goods to the UAE falling to USD 0.41
bln in 11M20 (down 15% yoy) and import plummeting 26% yoy to USD 54 mln.

 

Yet the embassy of Ukraine in Abu Dhabi insists on its
website that the total volume of trade in goods and services between Ukraine
and the UAE in 2019 amounted to USD 1.07 bln. “Despite the global economic
crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the total volume of bilateral trade
between Ukraine and the UAE in the first half of 2020 amounted to USD 481.7
mln, which is only 3.6% less than the same period last year before the crisis,”
the Ukrainian embassy emphasized. “Exports of agricultural products amounted to
almost USD 140 mln. This year demonstrated a significant increase in exports of
Ukrainian food products such as: meat and edible offal – almost three times
(USD 35.4 mln), grain crops – almost twice USD 21.2 mln).”

 

So, the UAE is one of important markets for
Ukrainian food exports, having reached USD 252 mln in 2019 but losing 3% yoy in
11M20 to USD 214 mln. If it jumps to USD 2 bln “in several years”, this will be
very good – but also in several years.