Getting neighbourly with Ukraine's capital

The Warsaw bourse has announced a plan to attract Ukrainian companies which are looking to list abroad. "We aren't looking to strip the Ukrainian market of its companies, but since Poland is one of Ukraine's biggest trade partners we need to cooperate more closely," said Ludwik Sobolewski, head of the Warsaw bourse, after concluding an agreement last week to mutually encourage companies in both countries to dual list.

"Our further cooperation will help us benefit from the synergy effect and we will be able to appreciate a faster development of our markets," said Irina Zarya, president of the Kiev bourse (PFTS), which, as the largest of Ukraine's eight stock exchanges, accounts for nearly 90 percent of the trading volume.

At the beginning of May, PFTS had a listing of 697 companies and a capitalization of  E51 (zł.193) billion.

By contrast, the WSE's capitalization reached zł.764.8 billion last week.

One of WSE's targets will be Polish entrepreneurs who have established companies in Ukraine. It will try to convince them to list on both bourses, and will present the advantages of the Ukraine market to Polish investors.

The Warsaw bourse, however, is not interested in buying a stake in PFTS.

It has instead already announced plans to bid for a stake in the Ljubljana and Sofia stock exchanges as a part of its strategy to reinforce its leading position in Central and Eastern Europe. (Reuters)