KYIV

Efficiently-run industrial parks can stimulate economic activity and help create thousands of jobs in Ukrainian regions, a government minister said a month after parliament adopted legislation aimed at promoting their creation and development.

“An effective network of industrial parks is liable to create thousands of new jobs in the regions,” Oleksii Chernyshov, Minister for Communities and Territories Development, said on the government website kmu.ua.

“This will strengthen the economic potential of communities and create added value for Ukrainian industries. Thus, every hectare of an industrial site can create about 50 jobs. The average industrial park means 1,000 and more  citizens at work.”

But the minister said the quality of industrial parks far outweighed quantity “meaning jobs are created in industrial parks along with high-quality value-added goods that are produced there”.

Participants in industrial parks can be IT companies, enterprises of the processing industry, processing industrial and household waste, as well as subjects of scientific and technical activities. At the same time, the production of excisable goods, in addition to the production of cars, motorcycles, trailers, and a number of other vehicles, cannot be located on the territory of such parks.

Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, approved the legislation on industrial parks in early September, allowing for a wide range of services and industries and ensuring the provision of necessary infrastructure. The law provides for reimbursement of many loans contracted by entrepreneurs in establishing themselves in an industrial park. Related legislation on tax codes and customs duties is awaiting parliamentary approval.

The government will allocate 2 billion hryvnias for the development of industrial parks.

Chernyshov last month took part in a seminar devoted to the development and promotion of industrial parks in the town of Bila Tserkva, south of Kyiv.