Despite a very large territory, the Ukraine has been used to hearing the phrase, “nice potential”, while it remains – mostly – unrealised, says Arthur Nitsevych of Interlegal.

He says this is partly the heritage of the old-style Soviet era which was long on heavy-handed restriction and short on workable pathways to investment – and he adds that the Ukraine, so far, has also been short on the kind of vision that would break through it.

Firstly, he says the legal and business environment isn’t particularly investment friendly. “Further, the very notion of a port as a company is a little alien to the culture - the ports are still thought of as public entities,” says Mr Nitsevych. “This has to change.

“The second issue is that a fundamental lesson has not been learnt, despite plenty of opportunity. To change the regulations you have to clearly define the strategy: this is a priority and needs to be in place before you start.”

However, Mr Nitsevych says that this year could bring about change as there is a working group representing both private and public bodies that aim to develop a new set of regulations. “By the end of this year a new draft law should be out, and then you should be able to see the scale of the vision – or lack of it,” he says.

Interestingly, one successul start-up facility has got off the ground without pulling in too much external investment. OSC's Steve Wray explains that Yuzhny’s Transinvestservice (TIS) could be one to watch as it brings together all the magic ingredients – deep water, scale, rail and it still has 1,300 metres of quay wall that could be developed. Further, TIS is establishing an industrial zone to facilitate trade and is looking for partnerships to help this process along.

www.portstrategy.com/vision-needed-for-change