OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS:  DESPITE THE current banking crisis, a Dublin-based company, Haydon Investments, claims to have raised $15 million (€9.5 million) from Irish investors since announcing two weeks ago that it planned to take a stake in a $61 million (€38.5 million) office development in a central business district in Ukraine.

The Irish company is to develop the Volodymyrska Business Centre in Kiev in a joint venture with a local printing company. The 11-storey, 5,200sq m (55,972sq ft) centre will be leased on the open market and then sold so that investors can realise their profit. CBRE has given the project a current development value of $61 million (€38.5 million) and the project is to be managed by Bovis Lend Lease.

Hayden Investments says there was provision for further cash call, if required, and it would be the responsibility of the company to secure additional funds in such an instance. Peter Haydon, chief executive, says that investment monies are moving eastwards. "Ukraine is the new Poland, and offers significant returns on investment in the short and medium term," he said. They are considering office and retail projects with a gross development value of €500 million.

He says there are substantial opportunities in Ukraine, the second-largest country in Europe with a GDP that has been growing at 7 per cent on average for the last five years. There has been a huge undersupply of real estate in hotel, office, retail and warehouse sectors.

Haydon Investments opened an office in Kiev, Ukraine, in 2006, which is managed by the former business consul of the Ukrainian Embassy in Ireland. The company is also developing another business centre in Kiev where it spent $7 million (€4.5 million) on an investment in the 14,740sq m (158,660sq ft) Frunze Business Centre. Haydon says that the deciding factor driving property investors into Ukraine was the prospect of much higher returns compared to those in central and western Europe.