By James Brooke, UBN

🔵 Bucking the world recession, Ukraine’s IT exports increased by 20% yoy, to $5 billion, according to new figures from the National Bank of Ukraine. IT now accounts for 8.3% of total exports, putting it in fourth place after food, metals, and migrant labor. In 2013, IT accounted for 1.3% of Ukraine’s exports. “Ukraine has earned a reputation in recent years as one of the world’s leading IT outsourcing destinations, but many feel it is time for the country to move up the tech food chain,” Peter Dickinson wrote in an Atlantic Council blog: “Ukraine’s Booming IT Sector Defies the Coronavirus Crisis.”

🔵 Of the 100 best IT outsourcing firms in the world, 11 are based in Ukraine, according to the 2021 Global Outsourcing 100 list, a ranking compiled annually by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals. Designed to help companies find the right IT help, the list includes from Ukraine, in alphabetical order: Ciklum, Eleks, Infopulse, Innovecs, Intellias, Miratech, Nix, N-iX, Program-Ace and Sigma Software.

🔵 Almost 40 Belarusian IT companies with a total of 2,000 employees have moved to Ukraine in the last six months, Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister for Digital Transformation, said to Interfax-Ukraine. The emigration south has been prompted by police violence following Alexander Lukashenko’s assumption of Presidential powers after the election of August 2020 and 50% hike in IT income taxes, to 13%, effective Jan. 1 2021.

🔵 Ukraine is following the example of Dubai, Silicon Valley and Belarus of a decade ago by creating a low tax, low bureaucracy regime for IT companies, Fedorov told Interfax last week. In coming days, the Rada is to vote on “Diya City” an special regime for IT companies that will feature 5% income taxes and a modern labor code. “Action City is essentially a virtual zone, a kind of register,” Fedorov said. By legalizing operations, he said “companies can go to IPOs, become more  attractive to investors.” The Ministry forecasts that Diya City will help Ukraine’s IT industry to attract $12 billion in investment by 2025, creating 450,000 new jobs.