On May 2, 2024, experts of the Ukrainian Corporate Governance Institute and the Corporate Governance Professional Association (CGPA) started regular corporate governance training for members of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board of the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (hereinafter—UA:PBC).
Opening the event, Oleksandr Okuniev, Chairman of the CGPA Board of Directors, noted that it was a pleasure to continue long-term cooperation aimed at the professional development of the members of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board of UA:PBC and to see their significant progress in implementing the best corporate governance practices in their activities.
The first block of the training focused on the issues of self-assessment of the Supervisory Board. Volodymyr Igonin, Partner, Head of Corporate/M&A Practice at Vasil Kisil & Partners, and member of the CGPA Management Board, focused the participants’ attention on the procedure, procedures and pitfalls of the board assessment process. In particular, V. Igonin noted: “If you have a board, it is time to evaluate it. It is useful and helps to develop both the board as a whole and its members, and therefore creates more value. 98% of S&P 500 companies evaluate boards annually, and 47% evaluate individual members. There is only one important question in board evaluation: What is the ratio of time spent on presenting material to discussing agenda items? If the time spent on presentations outweighs the time spent on discussion, then the board is acting as a listener rather than a full-fledged partner, which wastes qualified board members’ time. The quality of discussion and decision-making is directly proportional to the quality of information the board receives in advance.“
Under the guidance of Oleksandr Okuniev, the training participants engaged in a comprehensive discussion on board evaluation technologies, focusing on selecting a balanced set of evaluation criteria. The session also shed light on the crucial topic of succession planning for senior executives and the pivotal role played by the Board’s Nomination Committee in ensuring effective governance.
As always, during such trainings for companies, CGPA engages experienced practitioners who are ready to share their experiences. This time, Igor Mityukov, an independent member of the Supervisory Board of JSC Ukrposhta, and Igor Smilyansky, CEO of JSC Ukrposhta, held a lively discussion with the training participants, sharing their vision of the interaction between the board and the executive body, creating an atmosphere of cooperation in which everyone is comfortable, and business is beneficial.
Oleksandr Okuniev, Chairman of the CGPA Board of Directors, said: “We have continued the long-standing practice of professional training of UA:PBC top management, namely the Board and the Management Board. This experience is quite new but very promising for both parties because it is no longer just a training event but an opportunity for an in-depth exchange of experience with practitioners representing the CGPA expert community and top managers of UA:PBC, who has been involved in the implementation of the principles of good corporate governance for a long time. This approach allows us to work systematically and see obvious progress, which is inspiring.“
We plan to scale this cooperation with companies in a corporate format. This is more than just a training program; it is the next step—specific practical recommendations and exchange of experience, taking into account the specifics of a particular company’s corporate governance. We are ready to cooperate with companies in this format.