Investments in fixed assets in Ukraine grow 21% yoy in 9M17

Investments in fixed assets in Ukraine grew 20.7% yoy
in 9M17, slowing from 22.5% yoy growth in 1H17, the State Statistics Service
reported on Nov. 24. The growth was driven by investments in state
administration and defense (58.9% yoy growth), transport infrastructure (57.9%
yoy), agriculture (36.7% yoy) and industry (22.0% yoy). 

Investments in industry were driven by carpentry
(89.8% yoy growth), iron ore extraction (48.3% yoy), oil and gas extraction
(29.0% yoy), and metal production (27.6% yoy). Regionally, the Dnipropetrovsk
region (29.3% yoy) and Kyiv city (22.5% yoy) contributed the most to investment
growth in 9M17.

Alexander Paraschiy: Local
investments eased but they still grew in the double digits. We estimated a
18.2% yoy investments increase in 3Q17 from 23.3% yoy growth in the prior
quarter.  The main sources for the slowdown were oil and gas extraction
(-18.4% yoy in 3Q17 vs. 105.2% yoy growth), telecommunication (-8.5% yoy vs.
42.2% yoy growth) and construction (-2.8% yoy vs. 35.2% yoy growth). 

The high comparative base for all the sectors
explains their drop in 3Q17. Last year, investments in fixed assets were strong
(27.2% yoy growth in 3Q16) and the above-mentioned sectors were among the
drivers for that surge.  Against this backdrop, we are keeping our initial
forecast unchanged at 19.8% yoy growth for 2017 despite the recent slowdown.