Odesa/Lviv, Ukraine (CI Ukraine) – [Updated on May 21, 2025 to add interview with Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero confirming plans to build shipyard in Odesa] — Ukraine is planning to reopen its airspace as early as May. The move is already attracting investment interest from some of the world’s largest institutional investors, from America’s Blackstone private equity giant to Singapore’s Temasek.
Ukraine had closed all flights over the country following Russia’s unprovoked invasion on February 24, 2002.
Lviv Danylo Halytskyi International Airport in western Ukraine is already ready reopen from today, authority director general Tatiana Romanovskaya said in an interview in a restaurant adjacent to the closed city airport.
[Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyy speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI Ukraine using CI Glass on creation of a state-of-the-art Unbroken physical rehabilitation center and medical center (superhumans), accepting tenders for the privatization of the Lviv Airport and attracting 1,000 US businesses to Lviv during US Conference of Mayors and ahead of the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington DC.]
She said Turkish Airlines and Ryanair are constantly calling her to find out when they can return flying to the airport along with legacy carriers Lufthansa, Lot and Saudia.
Lviv airport is an example of a public-private partnership in Ukraine, where Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyy applied his private sector experience to attract investment. This resulted in the transformation of the airport from serving 500,000 passengers to becoming a regional hub with 3 million passengers annually, including long-haul flights to New York City, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
Kyiv’s Boryspil International Airport (KBP), the largest airport in Ukraine, has garnered interest from leading global airport operators, including Germany’s Fraport, Singapore’s Temasek, and the Italian American operator of Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) Mundys. However, in the coming decade, regional airports such as Lviv and Odesa International Airport are expected to present the most attractive investment opportunities.
Nova Post, Ukraine’s e-commerce and logistics organization known for its efficiency and commitment to customer service, plans to designate Lviv and Odesa airports as central hubs for commerce between the United States and China. This information was shared by Nova Global President and CEO Yuri Benevytskyi during a recent interview in Warsaw, Poland.
Nova Global, the international operator of Nova Post, is utilizing Chisinau International Airport in Moldova as its primary air freight hub, particularly for goods sourced from China’s leading e-commerce companies Alibaba and Temu, he stated.
Nova Post intends to utilize a dry-leased Boeing 737 aircraft to facilitate commerce originating from the United States via Iceland to Václav Havel Airport in Prague. Additionally, a Boeing 747 aircraft will be employed to transport Chinese e-commerce goods to Ukraine from Hong Kong via Kazakhstan to Chisinau.
[Fedex founder and Executive Chairman Fred Smith and Nova Global CEO Yurii Benevytsk speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI Ukraine using CI Glass on company’s work and future investment in Ukraine in Washington, DC on March 12, 2024 and Nova Global (Nova Post Group) President and CEO speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI Ukraine using CI Glass on US and China expansion plans in Warsaw, Poland on March 26, 2025]
Benevytskyi noted that Nova Post would have preferred to use Warsaw’s Chopin Airport. However, it appears that the state-owned LOT airline impeded their attempts to utilize the airport due to concerns about potential competition with their own air cargo operations.
Nova Post founders Viacheslav Klymov, Volodymyr Popereshniuk, and Inna Popereshniuk have grown the company with strong cash flow despite Covid-19 and the war, likely achieving the highest customer satisfaction in the world.
Nova Post supports Ukraine’s small and medium-sized businesses and delivers packages within 24 hours, 96% of the time—something even loss-making Amazon Prime struggles to achieve.
“Nova Post customer service is beyond fantastic, and it is so good to make [Amazon] owner Jeff Bezos blush,’ said a New York based investment banking seeking to list the group on the New York Stock Exchange. Nova Post founders have no plans for a stock exchange listing and plan to make Nova Post a $1bn company through organic growth.
Instead of replacing the current airport management, asset giants like Blackrock, Vanguard or even Mario Gabelli can buy Ukraine’s government stake in the airport from the national Restoration Fund and establish a public-private holding company, similar to Bergamo Al-Serio Airport near Milan or the operator of Venice and Treviso airports, SAVE.
An experienced operator like Mundys, a venture between the Benetton family and Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone, would be needed to take over Odesa International Airport from its current owners, tobacco magnate Borys Kaufman and former footballer Alex Borukhovich.
Kaufman, who had been arrested (later released) and whose holdings in Odesa’s airport were frozen (and later unfrozen), exemplifies how some Ukrainian oligarchs have impacted foreign investment into the country even before the Russian invasion.
Kaufman and his associates chose not to negotiate the sale of Odesa’s Bristol Hotel, which is regarded as the finest in Eastern Europe, to a notable Chicago business owner, even after it suffered significant damage from a Russian missile strike.
The government of Ukraine, under President Volodymyr Zelensky, has taken steps to freeze assets owned by oligarchs to encourage foreign investment and demonstrate dedication to reforms intended to expedite Ukraine’s progression towards European Union membership.
In March, the Ukraine government decided to freeze the Ukrainian assets of Kostyantyn Zhevago, an oligarch and member of parliament who owns Ferrexpo, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange and based in Baar, Switzerland.
Kyiv made the move hoping to force Zhevago to sell his stake to an international steel group, possibly US based, that can modernize the company’s operations without interfering in domestic politics.
Kyiv took action with the aim of encouraging Zhevago to sell his stake to an international steel group, potentially US-based, that can upgrade the company’s operations while remaining uninvolved in domestic politics.
[CEO Pierroberto Folgiero speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI Ukraine using Glass on Fincantieri plans to build next generation civilian ships of its VARD unit in the Port of Odessa, Ukraine ahead of the DeepDive 2025 Analyst and Investors Underwater Day conference at the Teatro Alcione in Milan, Italy on May 19, 2025. Folgiero indicated that a formal announcement of the Odesa investment will be made during the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference to be held this July in Rome and chaired by Italian Prime Giorgia Meloni.]
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is leading efforts to promote significant investment in Ukraine. She is utilizing her relationship with US President Donald Trump, as well as Italian state holdings in companies such as shipbuilder Fincantieri, Italian railroads Ferrovie dello Stato, energy conglomerate Enel, and defense group Leonardo through the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).
Fincantieri is actively engaged in transforming Ukraine’s government-owned shipyards in the Black Sea port of Odesa into a cutting-edge manufacturing hub for constructing some of the world’s most advanced commercial vessels.
Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero hosted President Trump at the inauguration of a MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company cruise terminal in Miami in April. MSC is the partner of BlackRock in the Trump ordered takeover of the Panama canal.
High-level discussions about Fincantieri’s Odesa project are occurring at a meeting that includes representatives from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the European Investment Bank. These talks are taking place during this week’s IMF World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC.
Fincantieri constructs next-generation commercial ships for its Norwegian subsidiary VARD in Tulcea, Romania. The company employs approximately 4,500 workers in Tulcea and Braila, which are near the borders of Ukraine and Moldova and less than a two-hour drive from Odesa.
An upcoming NASDAQ spin-off involves Kyivstar, the Ukrainian mobile phone operator owned by VEON holding company. John Elkann, the Italo-American owner of Stellantis and Ferrari, is the largest independent shareholder.
TIM SpA, the Italian mobile phone operator in which CDP holds the government’s golden share, is currently considering becoming an industrial shareholder of VEON/Kyivstar, according to sources close to TIM CEO Pietro Labriola.
VEON and Kyivstar have acquired Ukraine’s ride share company Uklon for $155.2 million, positioning it as a competitor to Uber and Bolt in the ride share market.
Meloni has instructed CDP CEO Dario Scannapieco to take over the management of the conference following concerns raised by URC 2025 special envoy, former Italian ambassador Davide La Cecilia, regarding mismanagement.
La Cecilia did not address complaints from Ukrainian officials, World Bank president Ajay Banga, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about the lack of high-level Italian or US CEOs at the URC 2025 preview summit in Milan on March 5, 2025. He also did not comment on allegations that he may hire ISPI, a Milan-based think tank, to market the conference in July.
Romania and Ukraine have both indicated their intention to initiate proactive measures to safeguard Ukrainian airspace starting next month.
A Romanian military source said the country plans to start shooting down Russian drones and other missiles sometime next month while Polish Prime Donald Tusk is expected to become outspoken for the need of Ukraine to join the European Union and the use of Polish based Patriot missiles to protect the skies over Lviv.
A Romanian military source said the country plans to start shooting down Russian drones and other missiles sometime next month while Polish Prime Donald Tusk is expected to become outspoken for the need of Ukraine to join the European Union and the use of Polish based Patriot missiles to protect the skies over Lviv.
“Both Romania and Poland are holding off because of presidential elections set for May. Once those are over, expect both countries to show support both in words and deeds,” a NATO diplomat said. “NATO Secretary [Mark] Rutte visit to Odesa [on April 15, 2025] was just a curtain raiser.”
By PK Semler in Odesa, Ukraine and Tulcea, Romania. For more information, email pks@capitolintelgroup.com
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