Canadian Urban Institute

With CUI’s assistance, Ukraine now has a new policy tool to kick-start the country’s economic recovery. On July 26, 2010, Ukraine’s new Law on Public Private Partnerships (P3) was promulgated by President Yanukovych after being passed earlier by the national Parliament. The legislation will enter into force at the end of October 2010. The P3 Law is expected to create favourable conditions for attracting investments into Ukraine’s economy, which has been in slow recovery since the recent global economic downturn.

The law is also anticipated to play an important role in closing the country’s significant infrastructure deficit.  For the first time, Ukraine has a progressive legal framework that provides clear guidelines and predictable conditions for contractual cooperation and partnership between the state and private entities. The promulgation of the Law is also quite timely in light of the European Football Championship 2012 to be held in Ukraine and neighbouring Poland, as it contributes to the country’s program to develop, upgrade and maintain much-needed infrastructure and services for the upcoming tournament.

Since 2005, CUI has been supporting Ukraine’s efforts to improve regional planning and the enabling environment for regional economic development (RED). The CUI project in Ukraine is undertaken with the financial support from the Government of Canada provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).The project and its accomplishments, including the newly promulgated PPP Law, are attributable to the active engagement of Canadian professionals many of whom are leaders of Canada’s Ukrainian diaspora community. Bob Onyschuck, a CUI Board Member and our immediate past Chair, is one of Canada’s most prominent municipal and international trade lawyers and a recognized authority on P3s and their role in municipal infrastructure renewal in North America. Bohdan Wynnycky is a Senior Manager with the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing who has immense experience in municipal performance management. Bob and Bohdan were part of an international team of P3 experts that included Ukraine’s Myroslava Lendel and Peter Szegvari of Hungary. CUI’s expert team worked alongside senior public servants from Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Regional Development and Construction on drafts of the P3 Law, and provided recommendations for improvements based on Canadian and European best practices.
For more information, contact Elena Dinu at edinu@canurb.com