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To study the business climate in the regions, the European Business Association interviewed member companies of the Kharkiv office to identify key sentiments, trends, and forecasts for the development of regional business. Thus, the integrated value of the index was\u00a02.69 points\u00a0<\/strong>out of 5 possible, thus appearing to be in the negative plane.<\/p>\n The survey showed that this year there is a decrease in the number of entrepreneurs who consider the\u00a0conditions for doing business<\/strong>\u00a0as satisfactory \u2013\u00a041%<\/strong>\u00a0compared to 61% last year. Meanwhile, the share of entrepreneurs who find it difficult to do business has increased \u2013\u00a045%<\/strong>, while\u00a014%<\/strong>\u00a0of respondents find it easy to work.<\/p>\n At the same time,\u00a045%<\/strong>\u00a0of entrepreneurs believe that over the past six months<\/strong> the conditions for doing business in the Kharkiv region have not changed,\u00a041%<\/strong>\u00a0report changes for the worse, and\u00a014%<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 for the better.<\/p>\n The top 3 barriers<\/strong>\u00a0to business<\/strong> have remained unchanged since last year \u2013 what has changed is their priority order. Problems with the bureaucracy have come to the fore as they now disturb Kharkiv entrepreneurs the most. This is followed by corruption and the lack of the rule of law, for which entrepreneurs have expressed an equally high level of concern.<\/p>\n When assessing\u00a0the state of transport infrastructure\u00a0<\/strong>in the region, respondents’ opinions were divided almost equally. Thus,\u00a032%<\/strong>\u00a0of the surveyed entrepreneurs gave a satisfactory assessment, the same number assessed the condition of the infrastructure negatively, the other\u00a036%<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 positively.<\/p>\n Almost half of the entrepreneurs, namely\u00a045%<\/strong>, believe that the reconstruction of roads will help\u00a0improve the state of transport infrastructure<\/strong>. Other proposals include the modernization of the railway connection \u2013 16% and the construction of additional office space \u2013\u00a016%<\/strong>. At the same time,\u00a013%<\/strong>\u00a0are of the opinion that nothing needs to be changed, only the maintenance of what has been done before.<\/p>\n Regarding\u00a0the development level of e-services<\/strong>\u00a0in the region,\u00a041%\u00a0<\/strong>of respondents consider it satisfactory,\u00a032%<\/strong>\u00a0consider it high, and\u00a027%<\/strong>\u00a0low.<\/p>\n We also asked business representatives to evaluate\u00a0the work of regional authorities\u00a0<\/strong>on a 5-point scale. According to the results, we have two groups: the first was assessed by business in a neutral way, the second – in a negative way. Thus, the first includes the regional customs\u00a0(3.37<\/strong>), the regional traffic police\u00a0(3.35<\/strong>), the city council\u00a0(3.24<\/strong>), and the National Police\u00a0(3.21<\/strong>). And the second – the regional state employment service, regional administration, environmental inspectorate, and courts (all received a score less than 3<\/strong>).<\/p>\n More than half of entrepreneurs, namely\u00a055%<\/strong>, do not expect any\u00a0changes in doing business\u00a0in the next six months<\/strong>. Only\u00a014%<\/strong>\u00a0hope to improve working conditions. The opposite position was taken by\u00a032%<\/strong>\u00a0of respondents.<\/p>\n In the next half of 2022, business representatives would like to see such changes: expanding the list of electronic services, simplifying permitting procedures and administrative services, reducing pressure from regulatory authorities.<\/p>\n The business community also shared\u00a0its plans for next year. Thus,\u00a041%\u00a0<\/strong>of entrepreneurs plan to implement new investment projects in 2022. At the same time,\u00a055%<\/strong>\u00a0intend to increase the number of employees,\u00a041%<\/strong>\u00a0plan to reduce them, and\u00a05%<\/strong>\u00a0will leave everything unchanged. The vast majority, namely\u00a082%<\/strong>, plan to raise employees’ salaries to 10%, while the other\u00a014%<\/strong>\u00a0of entrepreneurs are ready for the even greater rise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n