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Private Management for Ukraine’s State-Owned Airports: What Foreign Operators Need to Know

by Roman Cheplyk
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
2 MIN
Private Management for Ukraine’s State-Owned Airports: What Foreign Operators Need to Know

Why early accounting, tax, and compliance planning is crucial for bidders eyeing Boryspil, Odesa, or Lviv

Opportunity Snapshot

The Ministry of Community and Territorial Development has tasked the EBRD and IFC with studying public-private partnership (PPP) models for Ukraine’s major airports—Boryspil, Odesa, Lviv, and others. Findings are due August 2025, creating a tight window for foreign airport operators, investors, and service providers to:

  1. Position for concession or management contracts

  2. Assess capex and opex under wartime constraints

  3. Structure bids that withstand Ukrainian tax and audit scrutiny


Accounting & Tax Essentials for Prospective Airport Managers

Key Issue Risk Without Planning Our Solution
PPP Financial Modeling Mispriced bids due to FX volatility and wartime insurance premiums IFRS-compliant cash-flow models with stress-tested exchange-rate scenarios
Permanent-Establishment (PE) Exposure Unexpected 18 % corporate-income-tax liabilities PE-risk assessment and optimal entity structuring (LLC vs. branch)
VAT on Construction & Services Cash-flow squeeze if refunds are delayed End-to-end VAT reclaim support and electronic tracking
Transfer-Pricing on Management Fees 25 % penalties for undocumented charges TP benchmarking and master-file/local-file preparation
Payroll & Social Taxes for Expat Staff Dual taxation and compliance gaps Shadow-payroll setup, treaty analysis, and HR cost forecasting

Three-Phase Compliance Roadmap

  1. Bid Stage (now – Aug 2025)

    • Due-diligence data room: historical financials, asset valuations, liability mapping

    • Draft accounting policies aligned with PPP contract terms

  2. Mobilisation Stage (post-award)

    • ERP localisation for Ukrainian statutory reporting

    • VAT registration and customs planning for imported equipment

  3. Operational Stage (airspace re-opening)

    • Monthly IFRS/UA GAAP dual bookkeeping

    • Real-time KPI dashboards for revenue share, passenger fees, and concession payments

    • Audit defence and regulator liaison with the State Tax Service and State Aviation Service


Why Engage Our Accounting & Advisory Team?

  • Aviation & Infrastructure FocusExperience with EBRD- and IFC-financed projects in Eastern Europe

  • Bilingual DeliveryFull reporting packs in English and Ukrainian for board and government stakeholders

  • Digital Compliance ToolkitCloud portal mirroring Ukraine’s e-audit format (SAF-T)

  • 24/7 Wartime SupportBusiness-continuity protocols and secure data backup outside conflict zones

Private investment will keep airport infrastructure flight-ready and reduce budget strain,”
Maryna Denysiuk, Deputy Minister of Community & Territorial Development


Next Steps for Interested Operators

  1. Book a 30-minute strategy call to map tax, PE, and VAT risks for your bid team.

  2. Receive a customised checklist of accounting documents required for EBRD/IFC due diligence.

  3. Launch an entity-setup & payroll timeline aligned with the August study release.

Secure your briefing slot today and ensure your airport bid is financially airtight—before the runway lights turn back on.

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