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.