June 4, 2025: Kyiv’s “Parkovy” Exhibition Center Gathered Experts to Discuss the Future of Ukrainian Communities Through Industrial Parks Development

On June 4, 2025, Kyiv’s “Parkovy” Exhibition Center brought together experts to discuss the future of Ukrainian communities through the lens of industrial park development. We share key insights, unexpected discoveries, and practical solutions from participants.

Imagine this: in Vietnam, the average worker’s salary is 400 euros, but that’s exactly where Apple is moving its factories from China. Why? And what does this mean for Ukraine? Answers to these questions were heard at the practical session “Transformation of Ukrainian Communities Through Industrial Park Development.”

Event Participants: Who Shaped the Discourse

The event was moderated by Sergiy Shynkarenko, Director of Ukraine Development Alliance and representative of the international ecosystem Economy of Trust Ukraine. The panel included:

• Valeriy Kyrylko (owner of “Industrial Parks of Ukraine” group of companies) – expert on regulatory aspects;
• Arthur Melezhyk (head of industrial parks department at the Ministry of Economy) – representative of state policy;
• Volodymyr Zlepko (deputy mayor of Trostyanets) – practitioner in territorial development;
• Oleksandr Bondarenko (founder of NOVO management company) – expert on international practices;
• Hennadiy Hrynenko (commercial director of Alterra Group) – industrial park developer

Global Experience: Lessons for Ukraine

Sergiy Shynkarenko (Director of Ukraine Development Alliance) revealed the success mechanisms of leading economies through the lens of industrial parks:

Poland: Systematic Approach to Industrialization

• 14 special economic zones with an average investment level of 700 million euros per facility.
• Wrocław Technology Park as a model: 160 hectares, 10 million euros annual R&D turnover.

“The secret lies in comprehensiveness – universities, business, and government work as a single organism,” noted Shynkarenko.

Turkey: Export Power

• 350+ industrial parks generate 85% of the country’s industrial exports.
• Istanbul’s Yeseri zone: $4 billion annual exports thanks to complete tax amnesty.

Impressive Numbers: Where We Stand Now

Valeriy Kyrylko (owner of “Industrial Parks of Ukraine” group of companies) debunked several myths about the industry’s state in Ukraine. It turns out many professionals don’t even know about the existence of industrial parks:

“The more I speak at various events, the more I’m amazed that many people haven’t heard about this at all. People are just stunned – their jaws drop: ‘What, we have such things?'”

But the numbers speak for themselves:

• 97 industrial parks registered
• 21 parks actually operating (30 expected by year-end)
• Over 3,000 jobs created
• 301.4 billion UAH total investments

Interestingly, most parks are registered in Lviv, Kyiv, and Zakarpattia regions. The leader by number of residents is the Western Ukrainian Industrial Hub with 29 companies.

Three Types of Market Players

Kyrylko identified three categories of initiators, each with their own challenges:

1. Industrial initiators (largest share) – when an enterprise creates a park for itself. “They essentially have no problems except for labor resources now”
2. Communities – more complex here: “If they don’t have an investor or already confirmed management company in advance, the question arises where to get financial resources”
3. Developers – the most complex case, but most promising

The State Finally Joins the Game

Arthur Melezhyk (head of industrial parks department at the Ministry of Economy) brought good news. 2024 became a turning point:

“Under last year’s stimulus program, 1 billion was allocated, but decisions were made for 1.1 billion. We collected all applications, saw that funding wasn’t enough, and within the Ministry of Economy made a redistribution of funds”

What’s new in 2025:

• 500 million UAH planned (with possibility of increase)
• Parks can apply for two consecutive years within 150 million UAH
• Expanded list of engineering and transport infrastructure
• Eco-industrial parks – new term to simplify exports to EU
• Initiator and management company can be one legal entity

Vietnamese Insight: Why Apple Goes There, Not to Us

Oleksandr Bondarenko (founder of NOVO management company) shared fresh impressions from a business tour of Vietnam, and his conclusions make you think:

“The state there sponsors 50-70% immediately for road construction and electricity supply, building large substations immediately for 50-100 MW”

What works there:

• Political stability (“communist party, but this doesn’t scare investors”)
• Economy grows 6.5% annually for 20 years
• Investment protection: “No NABU, no all these… there’s police, there’s prosecutor’s office. Nestlé, American investors, Swiss – they’re not afraid someone will come with searches”

Result – placement of factories by giants like Apple, Nestlé, Pepsi, and Swarovski.

Formation Lviv: How to Do It Right

Hennadiy Hrynenko (commercial director of Alterra Group) shared a successful case of cooperation with the city:

“Most importantly, we work with one idea – the idea of development. The city integrates us into its system of working with external stakeholders”

Results in one year:

• 150,000 m² (30 hectares) of territory
• 10 buildings under construction
• 500 jobs by year-end
• 35-40,000 m² commissioned

Secret of partnership with the city: Lviv and Vinnytsia allocated industrial zones of 100+ hectares and began to fill them with infrastructure. “They laid roads, sewerage, water, basic electricity”

Trostyanets: How to Plan the Future During War

Volodymyr Zlepko (deputy mayor of Trostyanets) presented an ambitious city development project located 35 km from the border with the aggressor:

“It’s good when there’s an industrial park, but even better when there’s understanding that people should work in this park, and these people should live somewhere. We’re planning not just production facilities, but creating an environment where there will be housing, schools, kindergartens, social infrastructure, and recreation places. Because without this, industrial parks won’t be effective”

The 120-hectare project includes:

• 40 hectares of industrial park
• Residential development for 10,000 people
• Schools and kindergartens
• Rehabilitation center
• Sports complex for biathlon

A similar emphasis on comprehensiveness was heard in Sergiy Shynkarenko’s speech, Director of Ukraine Development Alliance:

“When you plan an industrial park, you must also plan a complex where people will live, a complex for professional technical education, social sphere, and recreation sphere.”

The Trostyanets case demonstrates a new approach in Ukraine to territorial development: not just attract an investor, but create a functional environment that attracts people and retains specialists in the community. This is the answer to the key challenge of most communities – shortage of labor resources.

Main Problem: Electricity and People

All speakers unanimously named two critical problems:

Electricity

“Only 30% of parks are provided with electricity” – Valeriy Kyrylko

Labor Resources

Particularly acute in certain regions. BF-terminal in Zakarpattia plans 1000-1500 jobs: “Where they’ll get these personnel – that’s a big question”

DEMONSTRATION OF TWO PLATFORMS REPRESENTING UKRAINE’S INDUSTRIAL PARKS TO THE GLOBAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Sergiy Shynkarenko (Director of Ukraine Development Alliance) presented a fundamentally new approach to representing Ukrainian industrial parks to international investors, potential strategic partners, and resident companies from Economy of Trust Ukraine.

Economy of Trust – Industrial Parks

Basic platform:

• English interface for international audience
• Available land plots with verified information
• Direct connection with communities

Solution for Ukrainian industrial parks that are premium participants of the Economy of Trust Ukraine ecosystem:

This platform is developed jointly with SWECO, Europe’s largest engineering company. Data that SWECO publishes under its brand is a kind of “quality mark” and “green light” for potential investors and residents of your industrial park. The platform contains:

• 3D visualizations of master plan
• Detailed cluster structure
• Information about current residents
• Development analytical data
• Integration with interactive map

Visual Examples and Practical Results:

Burshtyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region: An application for funding the development of an industrial park near Burshtyn city has been submitted. The first step on this path, proposed by the Finnish government program provider for Ukraine’s development, will be building a thermal power plant operating on biomass. It should provide stable “green” electricity to both registered industrial parks located near Burshtyn city. Preliminary cost is €44.5 million. The agreement for construction and operation of the TPP will be concluded directly with Burshtyn municipality. Proposed agreement terms: 35% – grant, 65% – loan for 10+ years at 0% annual. Funding approval and start of TPP construction work should occur by September 1, 2025.

Shabo, Odesa region: We have preliminary confirmation of possible financing from the Finnish government for building an industrial park – a regional complex for processing solid household waste into electrical energy, which will occupy 70 hectares. Parallel processes are underway to prepare the project based on public-private partnership principles, which will allow additional funding for creating peripheral infrastructure around this complex, residential complex for industrial park employees, and professional education institution for personnel potential preparation.

Practical Advice from Experts

For Communities:

• Don’t wait for an investor with a bag of money – generate projects and become a partner of the Economy of Trust Ukraine ecosystem. Our expertise is organizational and financial engineering of mutually beneficial agreements between local government – private business – industrial parks – investors.
• Plan and allocate industrial zones considering the need to create, along with industrial park infrastructure, all necessary infrastructure for housing, meeting household needs and recreation of people who will work at enterprises – residents of the industrial park.
• Reduce taxes maximally – competition with Poland and Lithuania is real
• Implement comprehensive project planning, focusing on people who will implement them: workplace, housing, education, recreation
• One job in an industrial park equals 1 to 3 new jobs in the private sector outside the park territory.

For Business:

• 80% of potential IP residents want to come to ready facilities – consider this in strategy
• Develop ecosystems, not just rent out
• Integrate with local government – this gives access to international programs

For the State:

• Increase funding for IP development. 500 million UAH is not enough
• Simplify procedures – time is a critically important parameter
• Fight raiding

What’s Next: Trends and Prospects

Valeriy Kyrylko predicts:

• More than 30 operating parks by end of 2025
• Decrease in municipal initiatives, growth of private ones
• Emergence of specialized clusters
• Trend toward environmental friendliness

Hennadiy Hrynenko emphasizes the importance of a non-linear approach:

“We cannot solve the problem linearly. An ecosystem is needed – the software part that creates a magnet”

Conclusions: Industrial Parks as New Reality

The expert session showed: industrial parks in Ukraine are no longer an experiment, but a real tool for community transformation. With the right approach, one dollar of investment generates 4-7 dollars of GDP growth.

Key Insights:

• Comprehensiveness – a park without social infrastructure is doomed
• Partnership – successful cases are based on cooperation between government and business
• International integration – without access to global platforms, development is limited
• Speed – while Ukraine thinks, Vietnam attracts Apple and Nestlé

The world is changing rapidly. The question isn’t whether Ukraine needs industrial parks – the question is whether we’ll manage to make them competitive in the global market.