PROSPECT INVESTMENTS: THE BEST WAY TO WORK IN UKRAINE

Vladimir V. Tikhomirov,
Prospect Investment Director.

PROSPECT INVESTMENTS:
THE BEST WAY
TO WORK IN UKRAINE

Gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine quickly became a subject of considerable interest from the foreign communities. Being a major industrial and agricultural part of the former Soviet Union, it attracted attention of a large number of businessmen from around the world seeking new investment opportunities. Due to the lack, or rather, complete absence, of a market economy infrastructure, those investors usually got a feeling of a person trying to find his way through the jungles. Moreover, when the Ukrainian Government announced mass-privatization program "shares for vouchers" in the end of 1994, the overwhelming part of the domestic investors found themselves in a similar situation. Hence, a demand for investment professionals familiar with the Ukrainian environment became really hot. As a response to such needs, an investment company Prospect Investments emerged among the first guides in the dark alleys of the Ukrainian capital market.

Prospect Investments Office

Since February 1995, when the Company was officially registered, its customers enjoy high professionalism and friendly relations with the Company's personnel. In 1996, the Company got a new name "Prospect Investments" which reflected its business line. From the very beginning, the Company tried to be as transparent to its customers as possible, realizing that this was the only way to build trust. Its books are regularly audited by Coopers&Lybrand. As a result, Prospect Investments is a manager of the two biggest mutual funds in Ukraine, Privatization Fund and Stolichny Fund.

In three years, the Company has grown from the staff of three to more than sixty experienced investment professionals and became a truly western-style investment house. It is one of the major traders of the corporate securities as well as government T-bills.The Company is an active member of various business associations, including Ukrainian Association of Investment Business, Interregional Stock Union. Prospect Investments has a seat at the Ukrainian Stock Exchange and is one of the founders and active participants of the OTC trading system (PFTS).
Since January 1, 1997, Prospect Investments regularly calculates its Ukrainian Stock market ProU-50. Index is disseminated world-wide and is published by many information agencies, including Reuter, Interfax. Investment professionals use the index as one of primary sources to analyse the tendencies of the Ukrainian stock market.

Industry	Amount, thous. $	Share, %
Power Industry	21,490,85	32,67
Oil and Gas	2,136,34	3,25
Engineering	285,27	0,43
Chemistry	958,38	1,46
Metals	10,311,66	15,67
Transport	73,42	0,11
Building Materials	138,58	0,21
Food Industry	497,83	0,76
Trade	332,70	0,51
Government Securities	29,561,76	44,94
Total	65,786,79	100.00

As one of the practitioners, Prospect Investments actively cooperates with the Ukrainian Securities and Exchange Commission, the State Property Fund and other ruling bodies. This ensures that rules of the game on the capital market set by these regulatory bodies reflect the opinions of the market participants.
Realizing the importance of the market participants' education, Prospect Investments sponsors various domestic and international conferences related to the investments business issues. One can mention conferences in Kyiv: "Capital market in Ukraine - Prospects for Development" in February, 1998 and forthcoming international conference "Ukrainian Capital Market Infrastructure and Investment Opportunities", etc.