Foreign investors remain reluctant to join Ukraine’s large privatizations

Ukraine wants foreign strategic investors to buy state assets, but European companies are largely staying away. The State Property Fund currently has 18 large projects, 157 smaller assets and roughly 1,200 more in preparation, yet only one foreign investor has completed a wartime privatization of a major Ukrainian asset. Market participants point to war risk, short due-diligence periods, debt-laden assets and insufficient investor communication. Interestingly, companies from the US, Türkiye, Israel and Azerbaijan appear more willing to inspect opportunities than many European investors. The story is important because privatization could become one of the fastest routes for foreign companies to obtain Ukrainian production assets, land, personnel and market presence.