On 18 November 2023, the next Corporate Director Professional Development Program for Board Members ended.

We are happy to see the smiling faces of the program participants, who are full of optimism in such a challenging time for the country 🇺🇦 and Ukrainian businesses and are trying tirelessly to find solutions and new opportunities for their businesses.

During the first module, Oleksandr Okuniev (Chairman of the CGPA Board of Directors), Taras Kyrychenko (member of the Supervisory Board of Nova Poshta, co-founder of the angel syndicate TOLOKA), Timur Bairov (Chairman of the Kazakhstan division of Bitfury Group, member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for International Programmes), Peter Zashev (Adjunct Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Finland, Director of Corporate Training Programmes at Hanken School of Economics, Member of the Board of Directors of Alu-Releco International (Finland)), Oleksandr Pochkun (Co-founder and Managing Partner of Baker Tilly in Ukraine) – extremely professionally and conveyed to the participants the features and benefits of good corporate governance in companies. They focused on building a strategy in the company and finding new opportunities for development – the “blue ocean”. The Supervisory Board in a company is an engine that must work in a coordinated manner and set the entire company on the right and balanced course through coordinated work and creating a proper corporate culture for sustainable business development.

Participants actively discussed the cases and engaged in teamwork, as well as shared their experience in overcoming current challenges and choosing development strategies for their companies.

During the second and final module of the program, Oleksiy Dolgikh (Managing Partner of Boyden Global Executive Search Ukraine), Nadiia Vasylieva (Member of the Supervisory Board of JSC “CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK”, Supervisory Board of SE “Prozorro. Sales”), Oleksandr Onufrienko (attorney at law, PhD in law, specialist in corporate law), Iryna Starodubova ( Associate Partner of Capital Times), Serge Goncharevich (Founder and Managing Partner of Capital Times), Vasyl Davydko (Managing Director of Leopolis Group), Dmytro Stryzhov (Founder, member of the Advisory Board of Sheriff Security Holding), Sergii Bulavin (member of the Advisory Board of New Standard, Chairman of the Advisory Board of TERRAMET, CEO of AgroGeneration), Dmytro Kozlov (Chairman of the Advisory Board of New Standard, member of the Advisory Board of TERRAMET) and Igor Gut (Managing Partner of DYB) immersed the participants in the issues of the activities of the boards of directors of companies.

Particular attention was paid to the issues of succession in the company’s management, which are considered to be a strategic task of the Board. The Board’s Nomination Committee was also reviewed, particularly in the context of the search and election of the CEO. The importance of ensuring diversity in selecting the company’s management was also highlighted. The participants discussed the contract with the CEO and his/her responsibility to the company, noting the key aspects of this relationship.

The participants analysed in detail the company’s interaction with investors, including the development and implementation of a business financing strategy, as well as investment instruments to increase the company’s value, using case studies and practical experience.

A separate aspect was the discussion of the importance of integrating ESG principles into corporate strategy, in particular, their role in achieving the company’s success.

The discussion concluded with a focus on corporate security, the role of boards in small and medium-sized businesses, and the first step in creating an effective Advisory Board.

The participants reviewed a number of practical cases and found common solutions to the challenges.