On Thursday, September 30, as part of the CEO Club Ukraine meeting, the Corporate Governance Professional Association organized a panel discussion on issues that are always relevant for everyone and are the responsibility of the Board and business owners – attracting investment in business development.
The event was moderated by Serhiy Bulavin, CEO of AGROGENERATION, Chairman of the NEW STANDARD Advisory Board, SIGMABLEYZER Non-Executive Vice President.
The participants of the discussion were:
- Oleksandr Okuniev, Chairman of the CGPA Management Board;
- Timur Bairov, Chairman of the Kazakhstan division of BITFURY GROUP, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BRIDGE GROUP, Member of the Supervisory Board of ASTANA STARTUP HUB;
- Olena Voloshyna, IFC Senior Country Officer in Ukraine;
- Sergey Goncharevich, Founder and Managing Partner of CAPITAL TIMES;
- Volodymyr Igonin, Partner of Vasil Kisil & Partners Law Firm;
- Timur Kogan, Financial Advisor to Tim Kogan & Co.
During the event, the speakers discussed the issues of preparing the company to attract investment and the road map of the corporate director. The speakers shared insights, examples, and recommendations on how Ukrainian companies work with international organizations.
It was emphasized the importance of good corporate governance in companies to attract investment and investors in the Ukrainian economy.
Participants had the opportunity to hear first-hand about the experience of successful examples of attracting investment by Ukrainian companies in 2021 and to adopt the life hacks in their work. Sergey Goncharevich suggested that 2021 would be the year of attracting the largest amount of investment by Ukrainian companies.
Timur Kogan shared with the participants his experience in increasing the value and liquidity of company shares, highlighting in the presentation the draft transformation program and the roadmap for the company’s transformation.
Volodymyr Igonin noted that the surge in investment is associated with a high level of profitability and the introduction of good corporate governance in companies.
Olena Voloshyna noted that in recent years significant foreign direct investments in production don’t come to Ukraine. Also important is the fact that the International Finance Corporation is attractive to Ukrainian businesses as a large investor who has the opportunity to invest $ 50 million or more; Ukrainian commercial banks cover the need for investment within $ 20 million.
Timur Bairov noted an interesting trend today: the rapid development of a new tool to attract investment through SPAC companies. A special-purpose acquisition company is a type of company explicitly created for mergers (and only for this) with private companies that plan to do an IPO but do not want or are not ready to participate in all preparatory to IPO processes.
Oleksandr Okuniev noted the growing interest of private business representatives in creating a system of good corporate governance in companies and creating boards, which illustrates the change in the profile of participants in the professional development program for board members “Corporate Director”. The number of owners and founders of small and medium-sized businesses is growing, who are thinking about the development of companies, attracting investment, and, very often, thinking about the scheme of company succession planning and its sustainability.