Oleksandr Ovcharenko at the LUN Conference 2025: how investors have changed

At the Ukrainian property market’s largest annual event, spoke on the opening panel, which discussed trends in the primary property market. He stressed that, against the backdrop of the war and a shrinking pipeline of new projects, developers should focus on products that deliver predictable cash flow and build investor confidence.LUN Conference 2025,Standard One co-owner Oleksandr Ovcharenko

“We will see confidence return among buyers and investors. But investors are becoming more demanding, looking for the right balance of price, floor area, quality, how ready the property is and, above all, projected returns and payback periods”, said Ovcharenko.

He said the projects that attract investors are those that can generate a stable, transparent income. These are properties where every square metre is put to good use, with good infrastructure and amenities nearby. Above all, this means the rental building format – Build-to-Rent – which Standard One was the first to introduce to the Ukrainian market in a systematic way.

“If you bring to market a product that, thanks to capitalisation combined with rental income, can generate a high-quality cash flow, you will attract considerable interest from investors. Right now, Build-to-Rent is the only product that can generate income with predictable options for investors and guarantees for the developer”, he stressed.

In his talk, Ovcharenko paid particular attention to developers’ financial stability and the role of instalment plans in supporting the market.

“Cross-financing is the first step towards bankruptcy. We dropped that model long ago. We don’t take a single hryvnia out of a project until it is completed. Every developer needs its own financing system, and today that mainly means in-house mortgages – instalment plans. Already 80–87% of our contracts are signed this way. In the coming years, buyers will expect even more flexible terms”, he explained.

The market is now entering a phase of natural selection, and the focus will stay on systematic developers with strict financial discipline. In Oleksandr Ovcharenko’s view, “cheap and affordable does not mean quality”, so the winners will be developers who do not undercut the market but instead explain transparently to investors what they are paying for, showing the clear value and quality of the product.

Oleksandr also mentioned the company’s new financial product – , which gives investors a new, more accessible way into the income-generating property market. He said S1 REIT lets investors not only invest profitably in a liquid product but also, in the longer term, exchange the certificates they have accumulated for a flat.S1 REIT

Standard One is developing several Build-to-Rent projects in Kyiv. The company commissioned its first building in 2019, and S1 Obolon is now under construction. The company plans to launch two more new developments by the end of the year.