Land can be a top-notch investment asset with an annual return of 8-10%

Concorde Capital CEO and Founder Igor Mazepa is certain that land can be a top-notch investment asset with an annual return of 8-10%

Igor Mazepa, an investment banker, CEO and Owner of Concorde Capital investment company, based in Kyiv, Ukraine, shares his views about launch of Ukraine’s agricultural market.

“Only in its thirtieth year Ukraine dare to open the farmland market, not even fully. This delay has resulted in decades of underinvestment in the agricultural sector. Thus, it will take us long to catch up with Western countries in terms of productivity and efficiency of agroindustry. The ban on foreigners' access to the Ukrainian land market is the biggest constraint on its development”, - says Igor Mazepa.

“The current law on land, which imposes the ban on foreigners, is the result of lobbying by agricultural holdings that do not want to face new competitors, striving to keep the land price at the lowest. This constrains further development of the market and reduces the value of land plots owned by ordinary people”.

Igor Mazepa us certain that land can be a top-notch investment asset with an annual return of 8-10%. Surely, land is a good alternative to investing in such classic instruments as:

• Real estate. Real estate needs to be managed. It is not a passive investment, as it requires financial resources and time efforts. Moreover, the return on equity in real estate goes down.
• Bank deposits. The return is already below the inflation rate. Foreign currency deposits rates are close to zero. You may have even negative return in some banks, as you need to pay extra for banks to keep your foreign currency on accounts.
• Stock market. On the one hand, Ukraine has none de facto. On the other hand, investing in foreign stock markets is too much regulated and restricted by E-limit of €200,000 a year. It also bears some risks of high volatility and capital loss.