This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Avatar photo

Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Ukraine

17th December 2010

Public private partnerships

When the Lord Mayor of London visited Kyiv in September 2009 he drew attention to the immense expertise of British financial institutions in developing Public Private Partnership or PPP.  This is an arrangement where a private organisation assumes the risk of financing and building anything from a bridge to a hospital on the basis of a contract with the government or public sector.

One result of the Mayor’s initiative is a seminar held this month in Kyiv called “Public Private Partnership Projects in Ukraine: a Practical Perspective”.  The event is co-financed by UK Trade and Investment and the EU; and when I open the event with my EU colleague there is a huge turnout of public officials and business types eager to apply PPP techniques to sectors from agriculture through healthcare and waste management to electricity production.  In July, the Ukrainian parliament passed a new law on Public Private Partnership which seems certain to boost interest further.

Ukraine holds vast potential for business in many areas, although much still needs to be done to improve the business climate.  We hope PPP will offer a further avenue to bolster investment in Ukraine and to help provide the services which the public sector needs.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

Follow Leigh

Tags

and general investment london lord mayor of partnerships private public trade uk

Links