Every fifth Ukrainian builder has already left Poland – further more, such data was released by Bloomberg. The outflow of personnel provoked by the coronavirus can simply freeze the construction industry of the neighbors, which makes up as much as 8% of the country’s GDP, which is almost 4 times more than in Ukraine. By the way, construction, according to McKinsey Global Institute estimates, accounts for 13% of global GDP, and this is the largest industry in the world. So maybe the returning compatriots will now work for the growth of Ukrainian GDP in order to catch up with Poland and the entire developed world in the future? Let’s get it right.
They say you need to be very careful with your desires. Last spring, in his inaugural speech, Volodymyr Zelensky called on emigrated Ukrainians to return to their homeland. Not even a year had passed before they began to return, however, not entirely of their own free will.
The coronavirus pandemic has greatly changed the landscape of the global economy: quarantine is gradually stopping all companies and production – either by government orders, or because people, even in enterprises that are allowed to work, start to get sick.
The closure of borders and the massive halt in the activities of enterprises in countries close to us have intensified a sharp return of workers to Ukraine. And what awaits them in their homeland? First, unfortunately, Ukrainian business cannot afford to pay the money they earned abroad. Secondly, after all, we also have quarantine, and moreover, although construction does not fall under the “stop”, spot checks of construction sites have already begun to take place, followed by a statement of the protocol. And if now most of the construction projects continue to work, then what will happen tomorrow – no one can say.
What to do? The answer is very simple: build. Paradoxically, it is the construction sector that can work in any crisis – there would be investments and a desire to do something. At the same time, we all know that money invested in construction is repeatedly returned to the economy.
On March 1, Ukraine launched the “Big Construction” – a joint project of the president and the government, the purpose of which is to build the necessary infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Construction work simultaneously began at more than 300 sites. It is planned to build more than 100 schools, 100 kindergartens, 100 stadiums and 200 new reception departments of hospitals and 4,000 km of roads during the year. This project, according to authorities, is supposed to create 150,000 new jobs.
On March 12, quarantine was introduced throughout Ukraine, which certainly introduces serious adjustments to all previous plans. In addition, we are expecting a sequestration of the budget, which should affect most items of expenditure. On March 30, the Verkhovna Rada sent a document for revision. What will happen in the finals – we’ll see soon. But earlier, the president said that “Big construction needs to be continued, because the country cannot be completely stopped.
We really can’t cut construction budgets to the last, we just need to stop stealing and take all the steps so that foreign investors not only do not run away, but believe in us, as in a reliable country, and want to invest again. Large construction should become so large as to occupy not 2, not 5, but 10% of GDP. And for this we have everything: people, desire, and will.
Andriy Ryzhykov, CEO and managing partner of DC Evolution