On 30 April 2026, the first training day of the ‘Test Drive of Advisory Boards for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’ project took place in Kyiv. The initiative is being implemented with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development*, the EU and Switzerland, and aims to improve the quality of corporate governance, investment attractiveness and strategic capacity of Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises.
The participants included 16 representatives from five Ukrainian companies selected to take part in the project. These include ‘Alliance Pack’ / FORTO, a manufacturing company from the Lviv region that produces designer wooden furniture for international brands; ‘BK VM-HIM’, an engineering and construction company with over 20 years’ experience in the field of industrial floor coverings; Elitbud-M, a construction company with over 35 years’ history in the Ukrainian market; Kiddy-Ko / TM Ideyka, one of the leaders in the Ukrainian market for arts and crafts and hobby products; and Magia Tekstilu, a manufacturer and supplier of home textiles with well-established B2B and B2C divisions.
This was an in-person training session specifically for the owners and senior management representatives of the participating companies. The joint training served as a starting point for further work within the project and provided an opportunity for participants to get to know one another, exchange experiences and develop a shared vision for future collaboration. Its aim was to foster a shared understanding among the companies of the role of the advisory board, its value to the business, and the format of interaction between owners, management and board members, as well as to help participants better prepare for the next stage – presentations of their companies and key business challenges.
The speakers were practitioners with many years of experience in corporate governance, supervisory and advisory boards, consultancy and business support. Among them were Oleksandr Okuniev, Chair of the CGPA Board of Directors; Dilyara Kadermeyeva, Director of Internal Audit and Operational Efficiency at KERNEL and a member of the National Registry of Corporate Directors; Alona Skichko, Partner at Baker Tilly; Serhii Bulavin, member of supervisory and advisory boards of Ukrainian companies and a member of the CGPA Board of Directors; Andrii Gaidutskyi, member of supervisory boards of state-owned companies and banks, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Mykolaivvodokanal Municipal Enterprise; as well as Anna Levandovska, owner of Audit-Consulting, a certified independent director with over 20 years’ experience in strategic consulting, corporate governance and attracting investment for SMEs. Their expertise enabled the combination of a theoretical understanding of the role of advisory boards with practical examples of how such boards can assist owners and management in the strategic development of companies.
During the training program, participants examined approaches to establishing an advisory board, its legal status, key tasks and working format. Particular attention was paid to how work would be organised within the ‘Board Test Drive’ project, specifically the implementation stages, the approach to selecting board members, key documents and the role of expert support.
The practical focus of the training centred on the interaction between the board and management: what information board members typically require, how the board can be useful to business owners and managers, and why an advisory board should act not as an opponent but as an ‘advocate’ and assistant to management. In the second half of the day, participants also explored the possibilities of rapid diagnostics for financial and accounting functions and heard presentations from experienced board members on how they view their work with SMEs.
The training session concluded with a review of the outcomes and recommendations on how companies should prepare for the next phase of the project. On 6 May, participants will present their businesses, key challenges, expectations of the advisory board, and the areas in which they require strategic support. This stage will form the basis for the subsequent selection of advisory board members and practical collaboration between the companies and potential board members.
*The project is being implemented with the support of the EBRD within the framework of the “Board Implementation and Strategic Development for Ukrainian SMEs” Project, funded by Switzerland through the EBRD’s Small Business Impact Fund* and the European Union under the “Women in Business” Programme.
**Donors to the Fund: Ireland, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, and the TaiwanBusiness – EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund.
The project has only just begun and will continue in the future. So, if you are the owner of a small or medium-sized business, meet the EBRD’s selection criteria, have a business development plan, and are keen to ‘try out’ the advisory board format for your business, we invite you to fill in the form. Together, we can review your application, assess how an advisory board could help bring your plans to fruition, and test this approach in practice with experienced experts.