According to the statistics provided by the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in 2023 Ukraine – Belgian trade turnover amounted to 1,022.2 million US dollars, a 1.5% rise year-on-year. The value of Ukrainian export in goods to Belgium in 2023 amounted to 359.1 million US dollars, a 23.1% decline year-on-year, while the value of import amounted to 663.1 million US dollars, 22.8% rise year-on-year. A bilateral trade between Ukraine and Belgium during this period amounted to a deficit of around 304.0 million US dollars.
The structural decomposition of the Ukrainian export in goods shows the prevalence of following products: seeds and fruits of oil plants (31.0%); mineral fuel; oil and products of its distillation (18.5%); furniture (11.1%); grain crops (10.3%); wood and wood products (9.3%); nuclear reactors, boilers, machines (3.4%); ferrous metal products (2.2%); fats and oils of animal or vegetable origin (1.8%); milk and dairy products, poultry eggs; natural honey (1.5%), edible fruits and nuts (1.5%); electric machines (1.4%).
The structural decomposition of the Ukrainian import in goods shows the prevalence of following products: means of land transport except railway (20.7%); mineral fuel; oil and products of its distillation (13.5%); various chemical products (8.2%); plastics, polymer materials (7.8%); pharmaceutical products (7.7%); alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and vinegar (5.1%); nuclear reactors, boilers, machines (5.0%); soap, surface-active organic substances (2.1%); electric machines (1.7%).
In 2022 the Ukraine – Belgian volume of services trade decreased by 22.3%, amounting to 249.9 million US dollars. At the same time, the value of Ukrainian export in services increased by 22.4%, amounting to 170.3 million US dollars, while the value of Ukrainian import decreased by 56.4%, amounting to 79.6 million US dollars. A positive balance of trade in services over the above-mentioned period for Ukraine amounted to 90.7 million US dollars.
The top services exported by Ukraine to Belgium have traditionally been linked to: financial sector (including services closely related to financial service activities) – 41.8% (↑2.05), IT sector (telecommunications services, IT services) – 28.5% (↑15.1%), business sector – 14.1% (↑6.7%), transport and mobility sector – 11.9% (↓27.9%).
The top services imported by Ukraine to Belgium have traditionally been linked to: financial sector – 52.9% (↓48.3%), IT sector (telecommunications services, IT services) – 13.9% (↓88 .1%), transport sector – 10.9% (↓79.1%), business sector – 6.8% (↓26.8%), public sector (administration, as well as aspects of legal, logistical and communication-related matters) – 1.8% (↓88.1%).
According to the statistics released by the National Bank of Ukraine as of December 31, 2022, the level of Belgian investing resources in the Ukrainian economy amounted to 57.2 million US dollars, in percentage terms it was estimated to be 0.2% of the total investments volume attracted to the Ukrainian economy over the same period of time.
The distribution of Belgian investments across the sectors of the Ukrainian economy was as following: the share of Belgian investment into the industrial sector amounted to 38.8 million US dollars (in percentage terms it was estimated to be 67.9% of the total volume of Belgian investments); into the sector of wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles – 7.7 million US dollars (13.4%); into the IT sector –2.1 million US dollars (3.6%); into the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector – 5.7 million US dollars (9.9%); to cover the activities carried out in the transport, logistics, and postal services sector – 0.3 million US dollars (0.6%).
Belgian investments served also to finance professional, scientific and technical activities; construction sector development; transactions with real estate; health care and provision of social assistance; office-administrative services and other auxiliary services.
More than 120 Belgian invested enterprises are operating on the Ukrainian market. The largest among them are the Belgian-Ukrainian joint venture Vatra-Schréder, Ahlers Logistic and Maritime Services, the French-Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group BNP Paribas Fortis, Melexis, Quadrox International, SUN inBev, Peryprotekt, Reynaers Aluminum, and the international group Puratos. The Belgian foreign direct capital is concentrated in the Ukrainian industrial sector, as well as in the sectors of trade and services, transport and telecommunications, agriculture, logistics, technology and innovation.
Since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 10 large Belgian companies have officially left the russian market, suspended their activities in the russian federation or have publicly announced they are voluntarily curtailing business operations with the russian companies. These companies are active in the field of construction and maritime transport (Etex, DEME, Jan De Nul group), in the chemical industry (Solvay), in the consulting industry (Arthur D. Little), in the finance sector (KBC Group), in the marketing and advertising industry (IAB Europe), and in the food industry (La Lorraine Group).
The main tool for bringing Ukrainian products into the Belgian market and finding Belgian partners for Ukrainian entrepreneurs is the NAZOVNI Platform, a service created with institutional and information support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. As of the end of 2023, the NAZOVNI Platform registration portal comprises more than 200 applications from Ukrainian exporters interested in the Belgian partners. The Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Belgium provides comprehensive assistance to the above-mentioned Ukrainian companies in order to achieve this objective.
The official estimate for Belgium's GDP was 627 billion euros at the end of 2023, which is 19% point higher than predicted this year. The Belgian GPD composition by sector of origine was: agriculture with 0.66%; industrial sector with 22.72%; the service sector, which includes a wide variety of sectors such as construction, trade, transport, communications, financial and business services with 68.26%.
In the first nine months of 2023, the total turnover of Belgian foreign trade for the first nine months of 2023 stood at 781.4 billion euros, Belgian exports amounted to 396.3 billion euros, while imports amounted to 385.1 billion euros. The composition of the Belgian exports abroad was similar to the bilateral exports one and includes products of the chemical industry, mineral products, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, plastic products, base metals, food products, precious stones and metals, textiles, optical, precision, and medical instruments, fruit and vegetable products, products of animal origin, other product groups.
Belgium top three foreign trade partners are France, the Netherlands, and Germany.
The Belgian economic agencies in charge of foreign trade, development and management of international economic relations, supporting exports, attracting foreign investment, and boosting the international marketing of innovation are: The Wallonia Export-Investment Agency («AWEX»), Flanders Investment & Trade («FIT»),Brussels Agency for Business Support («Brussels Invest&Export», in 2018 was renamed as «HUBBrussells»), the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency («BFTA») and the Federal State Service of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of Belgium (External Office).
Since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, "AWEX" has been organizing the participation of Belgian economic agencies and Belgian companies of the industrial, construction and energy sectors in the two editions of international exhibition & conference ReBuild Ukraine 2023, that took place in Warsaw (on February and November 2023). On 1 January 2023, «FIT» appointed Kris Put as Flemish Economic Representative «Rebuild Ukraine» to strengthen the relationships with all parties involved in the recovery and reconstruction process in Ukraine.
The Kingdom of Belgium resolutely supports Ukraine and the Ukrainian people by providing on an ongoing basis humanitarian and financial aid to our country. Belgium makes significant efforts to launch its own projects and to implement the international ones to restore the destroyed Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukraine's hardest-hit regions and the Ukrainian economy as a whole. Support for Ukraine is one of the priorities for the Belgian EU presidency, which is running through the first half of 2024.
Belgian financial assistance for Ukraine includes several financial support packages (the last one was adopted on 16 June 2023) as well as the usage of revenues from frozen russian assets in profit of Ukraine in order to purchase reconstruction of Ukraine. In October 2023, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium Alexander De Croo announced the Ukraine Fund to be established, which now stands at 1.7 billion euros, will serve to purchase military equipment, humanitarian aid and reconstruction of Ukraine's destroyed and damaged regional infrastructure. The origin of the above-mentioned fund generated by the income tax from frozen russian assets, deposited with a Belgian Central Securities Depository Euroclear. Thus, Belgium became the first country to introduce a mechanism for using frozen assets of the russian federation for the benefit of Ukraine.
According to information provided by the Federal State Service for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of Belgium, 150 million euros will be allocated to the Belgian development agency Enabel, which will thus help with reconstruction over the next four years, focusing on the Chernihiv region. The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries «BIO Invest» will invest 10 million euros in Ukrainian local economy, supporting its resilience. In terms of humanitarian needs, additional 15 million euros is planned for a contribution to the World Bank's SPURR facility (Special Programme for Ukraine's Recovery and Crisis Response).
Belgian aid package approved for Ukraine includes support of the international humanitarian organizations’ activities in our country as the UN agencies (UNICEF, OCHA, UNHCR, IOM, WFP, UNFPA) by making the contribution of 63 million euros. Since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, the Belgian government has ensured food security and food supply to Ukraine through the Belgian civil protection mechanism B-FAST (Belgian governmental institution aimed at organizing the distribution of the Belgian emergency aid abroad and providing basic services to the population on the ground).
Belgium also allocated 8 million euros to implement initiatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross aimed at providing local Ukrainian communities with medical assistance, contributing to family reunification, and raising awareness about the risks of unexplosive ordnance.
A significant part of Belgian humanitarian aid is aimed at eliminating the global consequences of the war in Ukraine, in particular solving the food crisis. In this context, Belgium contributed 10 million euros to the Ukrainian «Grain from Ukraine» initiative pledged for 2024. This program is aimed at suppling Ukrainian grain to countries vulnerable to food security. For this purpose, Belgium adopted the 30.9 million euros aid package, namely:
- 10 million euros for the restoration of hospitals through the International Organization for Migration;
- 1.5 million euros for the projects under the auspices of the International Labor Organization;
- 6 million euros for the European Investment Bank projects and 2 million euros for the World Bank initiatives.
As part of the recovery of the Ukrainian economy, the Belgian export credit agency Credendo is resuming coverage for export transactions with Ukraine on behalf of the Belgian state. A sum of €100 million is to be provided for this purpose.
Belgium also attaches special attention to defending human rights and to the battle against impunity in Ukraine, especially to punishment of war criminals. This includes a particular focus on the position of women and children. Belgian direct monetary assistance here amounted to 7,3 million euros. The allocated fundings are aimed at implementing tasks by these institutions:
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (0,800 million euro);
- International Criminal Court (1 million euro);
- UN agencies and funds and the Global Survivors Fund (3.5 million euros);
- UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), namely defence of the rights of children in armed conflict (0,5 million euros).
Exporters and Investors Council (EIC) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine was established in 2013 in order to safeguard national interests in Ukrainian export promotion and attraction of foreign investments to Ukraine.
EIC is a platform, which unites Ukrainian producers, exporters and leading business associations providing necessary support in promoting their goods and services abroad and entering new markets, as well as attracting foreign investors and companies to Ukraine effectively using diplomatic tools, resources and networks.
The Head of the Council is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
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While being the largest country within Europe, Ukraine enjoys the benefits of location at the crossroads of major transportation routes between Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
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On 13 February 2021 the Law of Ukraine No. 1116 “On State Support for Investment Projects with Significant Investments in Ukraine” (so-called Law on Investment Nannies) entered into force introducing a comprehensive legislative framework aimed at attracting large investments to the economy of Ukraine. According to this Law and respective amendments to the Tax and Customs Codes of Ukraine (effective as of 28 March 2021), a package of special investment incentives became available for investment projects meeting certain criteria.
In terms of looking for the information and best opportunities to invest in Ukraine, this information may be useful: