Photos: Olga Zakrevska, ain.ua
In recent years, Ukraine has been actively developing the innovation sphere, and Ukrainian start-ups and IT companies are known worldwide. According to IT companies, in 2016 the IT market amounted to $3 billion, which is 3.3% of Ukraine’s GDP in 2016. This area grows by 20,000 jobs annually. These growth rates can gradually match traditional Ukrainian industries like metallurgy and agriculture that will increase budget revenues. Ukraine has been discussing the launch of innovation parks for several years. One of the first has recently opened in Kyiv.
UCMC publishes an abridged version of AIN.UA article.
The first part of a large-scale project UNIT.City was presented on April 6 in Kyiv. It is expected to become the focus of the country’s creative economy.
The goal of the UNIT.City project is to combine educational, business, cultural, medical, sports and entertainment facilities in order to provide small and medium-sized innovation businesses with access to all infrastructures necessary for rapid development and expertise in one area.
Target audience
For the most part, companies that work in the areas of high technology, creative ideas and innovative business will be based here. That is, small Ukrainian and international food companies, R&D centers, start-ups and IT companies.
UNIT.City will help create up to 15,000 highly paid jobs, and provide talented youth with the opportunity of self-realizing in their country thus stopping “brain drain” in Ukraine.
Infrastructure
The total area of the future innovation park will be 25 hectares. The project resembles the famous campuses of Google, Apple and other Silicon Valley giants.
As of now, 4000 square meters have been used. Business campuses, sports complex and UNIT.Factory (free programming school), which is the main educational element of the park, are located there.
Business campuses will work in the format of club-offices (the company will use a small room, while meeting rooms and other spaces can be used by other companies).
Investors plan to build 31,000 square meters of business campuses, which will help create an entire innovation park. It is planned to invest 200 million dollars in the project within four years.
