Ukraine’s accession to the EU will trigger an influx of foreign investment and changes in the financial sector.

The country’s accession to the EU entails a sharp increase in private foreign direct investment, said Tomas Fiala, CEO of Dragon Capital.

“If you look at private investments in Poland, during the five years before joining the EU, they amounted to $3.7B per year; in the year of accession, they rose to $7B, and in the next five years – about $13B,” he said.

The largest amount of total annual private investment in Ukraine amounted to $10B and, on average $3-5B annually.

“And in total, these investments in Ukraine amount to less than $60B, and, for example, as of 2020 Poland received more than €200B from the EU alone,” the businessman added.

Fiala is also confident that business loans will be a third of the current cost after joining the EU.

In his turn, NBU head Andriy Pyshnyi noted that joining the EU would fundamentally change Ukraine’s banking system and financial sector. These changes have already begun.

“We must implement a very complex and ambitious reform plan,” he emphasized.