Stock market revival with European support
Ukraine is preparing to launch a new stock exchange with the backing of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other state stakeholders. The goal is to modernize the country’s financial infrastructure and create new opportunities for investors.
However, according to financier and founder of the First Kyiv Investment Club Ivan Kompan, infrastructure alone will not solve the fundamental weaknesses of the Ukrainian stock market. He voiced his position during the Kyiv Invest Meetup.
Lack of companies to trade
Kompan emphasized that the main bottleneck is not technical capacity but the shrinking number of tradable companies.
“In the 90s, we published the Ukrainian Investment Guide for foreign investors. There were up to 100 companies listed: not all large, but all liquid. We even created the first Ukrainian index, Wood 15, which included 15 large and actively traded companies. Now all of that has disappeared,”
Kompan noted.
Today, the stock exchange lacks enough public companies to make the market attractive or liquid for either domestic or foreign investors.
Distrust of the hryvnia
Another barrier is the low confidence in Ukraine’s national currency.
“What will be the investment currency in Ukraine? The hryvnia. Who keeps their capital in hryvnias? Nobody. If you don’t believe in the hryvnia, how will you invest in the hryvnia?”
Kompan asked.
Decades of devaluations — from UAH 8 to the dollar to UAH 40 in recent years — have undermined trust. Even with current relative macroeconomic stability, investors remain cautious.
According to Kompan, sustainable confidence will only emerge after the end of the war and with consistent monetary stability.
The broader context
Ukraine’s capital market faces:
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weak regulation,
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corruption risks,
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limited investor confidence.
Additionally, since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians have faced restrictions on international investments, with strict limits on capital withdrawals abroad. As a result, both domestic and global investment via the stock market remain difficult and risky.
Key takeaway
While the creation of a new exchange with EBRD support is an important step forward, experts stress that market depth and currency confidence are the real challenges. Without more companies going public and long-term stability of the hryvnia, Ukraine’s stock market will remain limited in its potential, regardless of modern infrastructure.
