BRUSSELS, Oct. 17 – Ukraine entered the top-three countries in Southeastern Europe and the CIS in terms of inflows of foreign direct investment in 2005, which amounted to $7.8 billion, according to an annual United Nations world investment report.
The report, "FDI from Developing and Transition Economies: Implications for Development in 2005," drawn up by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), was introduced on Monday in Brussels at a special press conference. The introductory note was written by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
In Southeast Europe and the CIS, FDI inflows remained almost at the same level as in 2004 – $40 billion. The world's FDI inflows in 2005 were $916 billion.
Southeast Europe and the CIS' top-three are Russia ($14.6billion), Ukraine ($7.8 billion) and Romania ($6.4 billion). Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Serbia and Montenegro, Georgia, and Belarus follow Romania.
In 2003, Ukraine's FDI inflow was $1.4 billion, and in 2004 it was $1.7 billion. Experts said that the increase of FDI inflows to Ukraine last year was due to the privatization of Kryvorizhstal Steel Mill and Aval Bank.
