Happy Nordic Living Oy’s CEO Timo Mikkonen, together with the company’s Legal Counsel Glenn Kolleeny, participated in the KyivBuild 2026 event in Kyiv on 18 February 2026. The opening panel discussions highlighted the most important ongoing reforms shaping Ukraine’s reconstruction, particularly in housing policy, construction regulation, the strengthened role of municipalities, and the transparent operating environment required for international financing.

Housing reform creates a new market structure

The new legislation adopted at the beginning of 2026 establishes a clear framework for the delivery of social and affordable housing in Ukraine. In this model:

• dedicated housing operators are responsible for developing and managing the housing stock
• municipalities enable projects by providing land and local guarantees
• the state and international financial institutions support investments through long-term affordable financing

This structure directly supports HNL’s concept, where industrial timber construction is combined with municipal pilot residential areas and local job creation.

Municipalities at the centre of reconstruction

The panel emphasised that Ukraine’s decentralisation reform has transferred key powers related to land use and local economic development to municipalities. As a result of the war, municipalities are facing:

• an urgent need for new housing
• a strong need for new jobs
• high motivation to attract industrial investments

This aligns closely with HNL’s operational model, in which the first timber element factory and the Happy Nordic Living Village are implemented in partnership with a pilot municipality.

Harmonisation of DBN with Eurocodes – a critical step towards a European construction environment

We followed with particular interest the presentations on the ongoing harmonisation of Ukraine’s national construction standards (DBN) with the Eurocodes. This reform is a crucial enabler for international investors and industrial construction solutions, as it unifies design principles, improves predictability, and integrates Ukraine into the European technical framework.

The progress made so far is highly positive. However, significant development work is still required, especially regarding the design, engineering and permitting processes for multi-storey timber buildings. Enabling these solutions is essential if Ukraine is to fully benefit from sustainable, low-carbon and industrialised construction.

HNL will actively contribute to this development by bringing Nordic expertise in industrial timber construction and Eurocode-based design into cooperation with authorities, municipalities and international partners. Our objective is to support a regulatory environment where also taller timber buildings can be efficiently permitted and delivered in Ukraine.

Faster permitting and mandatory BIM for publicly funded projects

Construction sector reform is also advancing through:

• simplification and acceleration of permitting procedures
• the introduction of an alternative appeal mechanism in case of unlawful refusals
• mandatory BIM for state-funded projects

These changes improve cost control, transparency and project predictability – all essential for internationally financed investments.

Rental housing tax reform supports long-term investors

The planned reduction of rental housing taxation from the current 23% to a target level of 7–10% sends a strong signal to institutional investors and long-term housing funds.

Trust is the key to reconstruction financing

The opening speeches underlined that large-scale reconstruction and accelerated procedures increase risks, but at the same time international funding is available. Long-term support depends on:

• transparent and predictable processes
• the rule of law
• high ethical and ESG standards
• open reporting and auditing

These principles are also at the core of HNL’s operating model in Ukraine.

A clear message for industrial investors

The key takeaway from KyivBuild 2026 is that Ukraine is systematically building an operating environment where:

• industrial, scalable housing production is possible
• municipalities act as active investment partners
• international financing is channelled into high-impact projects

HNL’s timber-based factory investment combined with an energy-efficient residential area concept directly responds to these objectives by integrating industrial production, housing, local employment and sustainable urban development.