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04 December 2018
III INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE DIRECTORS FORUM

Independent supervisory boards are needed not only for public companies to enter the stock market and to maintain a high level of transparency vis-à-vis investors, but also for state-owned enterprises and for public organizations. This was discussed at the Third International Corporate Directors Forum, organized by the Professional Corporate Governance Association and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), with the support of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).

Representatives of the professional community met in Kyiv on December 4 to exchange experiences, discuss legislative innovations, and consider cases for establishing effective corporate governance and supervisory boards.

This year, the Forum gathered more than 180 participants. Among them were members of the supervisory boards of Ukrainian and foreign companies, representatives of government institutions, heads of large and small companies, representatives of investment companies, banks and international organizations involved in the process of formation and development of corporate governance and the activities of supervisory boards.

The Forum was opened by Oleksandr Saenko, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and Oleksandr Okuniev, Chairman of the CGPA Management Board, who emphasized the importance of the effective work of supervisory boards of enterprises of all forms of ownership, which give impetus to the faster development and stabilization of the Ukrainian economy as a whole.

During August-September 2018, Vasil Kisil & Partners, together with CGPA, Amrop and the European Business Association, conducted a survey on the state of corporate governance in Ukrainian companies. More than 100 respondents took part in the survey. Oleksandr Okuniev and Volodymyr Igonin, Partner of Vasil Kisil & Partners, presented the results of the survey to the participants of the Forum, and also conducted a brief interactive voting on the peculiarities of corporate governance in Ukrainian companies.

In order to prevent unwarranted interference of officials in the process of making managerial decisions for state-owned enterprises, the Government has initiated a reform of corporate governance in the public sector, which will allow transition from direct management of public enterprises to the introduction of corporate governance tools common in OECD countries. The participants of the first session, which was devoted to supervisory boards in state-owned companies, namely: Maxim Nefyodov, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, Timur Khromayev, chairman of the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market of Ukraine, Katerina Rozhkova, First Deputy Head of the National Bank of Ukraine, came to the conclusion that the reform, first of all, will allow to separate the functions of the state as the owner and the function of the state as a regulator and policymaker. The state through the profile ministry must not simultaneously own the property of the enterprise, set tariffs and be responsible for the development strategy of the industry. The combination of these functions leads to ineffective management of state property and creates opportunities for corruption. It is now time to analyze the successes and failures that need to be changed and how to disseminate successful experience to other enterprises, as well as to make the necessary changes to the legislation on the activities of supervisory boards.

Improvement of the Board of Directors of the company is an object of interest of investors. An illustration of this axiom was the presentation of the case of JSB "Ukrgasbank". Independent members of the Supervisory Board Teymur Bagirov and Yuriy Blaschuk shared their experience in the work of the Board, and experts of the panel tried to evaluate its effectiveness. Elena Voloshina, the Head of IFC Operation in Ukraine, added that the ongoing reforms are time-consuming, but it's nice to watch the positive changes that have already taken place.

The third session, devoted to the experience of the leading Executive Search consultants, had a tremendous resonance. The issue of compensation payments, competencies and the profile of the members of the supervisory boards caused a significant discussion among panel members: Oleksiy Dolhikh, managing partner of the Ukrainian office of Boyden Global Executive Search, Igor Kabuzenko, managing Partner of Ward Howell, Roman Bondar, managing Partner of Odgers Berndtson, and Viesturs Leigis, managing partner Amrop Ukraine.

Kateryna Glazkova, Executive Director of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP), Vitaliy Deinega, Head of СО "ICF "COME BACK ALIVE", Andriy Vaskovych, President of the International Charity Fund "Caritas Ukraine", and Inna Pidluska, deputy executive director of the International Renaissance Foundation, spoke on the peculiarities of the work of supervisory boards in the non-profit and charitable organizations and public associations. During the discussion, they were trying to answer the questions: are there identical tasks of the board in the business and non-profit structures, who should be invited to the boards and what experience has already been developed in Ukraine. Alexander Pochkun, founder and managing partner of Baker Tilly in Ukraine, as moderator of the session, separately drew attention to the legal unregulated activity of non-profit organizations in Ukraine.

The forum has shown that in Ukraine at the moment there is no question whether a supervisory board is needed in the company, but ways to improve the efficiency of its work are discussed.

Organizers: Professional Corporate Governance Association (CGPA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Supported by: Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).

Official legal partner: Vasil Kisil & Partners

Official Energy Partner: DTEK Energy Company

Оfficial HR partner: Boyden

Official Training Partner: Ukrainian Corporate Governance Institute

Event-provider: Event Envoy

Supported by: NCCSPFU, SPFU, Emkon Company UAIB, PARD, APKBU, NDU, Independent Association of Ukrainian Banks, LSOU, APU, UNIC, SUP, ACC.

Read more about the Forum in the following news on our site.