On 21-23 September, the first professional development program for entrepreneurs, “Managing Small and Medium-Sized Businesses: From Startup to Sustainable Development,” was held. During the program, participants were able to address a number of issues related to company management, obtaining investments, financial assistance for business recovery, anti-corruption compliance, implementation of standards and compliance with ESG principles. The programme was a response to the challenges faced by small and medium-sized Ukrainian enterprises that are forced to look for new opportunities to keep their businesses alive in the face of a full-scale war in Ukraine.
Among the program’s distinguished speakers was Oleksandr Okuniev, Chairman of the CGPA Board of Directors. On the program’s first day, Mr. Okuniev enlightened participants about the potential content of shareholder/corporate agreements, emphasizing what should be included when drafting them, what considerations are relevant at the initial stage of business establishment, and what to incorporate during subsequent company growth phases.
Working alongside Taras Kyrychenko, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Nova Poshta LLC and a former member of the Supervisory Board of Oschadbank JSC (2019-2021), as well as Chairman of the Management Board of Pravex Bank JSC (2010-2019), participants engaged in board-level activities. They formulated development plans and strategies for the model company in group discussions.
Timur Bairov, Head of the Kazakhstan division of BITFURY GROUP and a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for International Programs, presented participants with a stimulating challenge: identifying “blue ocean” opportunities within relatively straightforward and comprehensible sectors of activity in Ukraine. Both the speaker and participants were impressed by the plethora of unconventional and sometimes one-of-a-kind solutions generated.
The program’s second day commenced with an examination of compliance and anti-corruption practices, both in Ukrainian and international companies. Olga Shenk, Partner of the Dispute Resolution and Compliance Practice at CMS CAMERON MCKENNA NABARRO OLSWAN’s Kyiv office, illustrated the significance of compliance and ethical business conduct through practical examples, underlining their pivotal roles in ensuring business sustainability. Antonina Prudko, Head of the UNIC Secretariat, shared her insights on implementing compliance policies, providing guidance on avoiding pitfalls and achieving effective outcomes.
Subsequently, participants delved into the intricate realm of business financing. Mariana Kobelya-Zvir, Director of the consulting company “Development Center ‘Time of Changes'” and founder of the school for grant project writing, “Time of Changes,” elaborated on the opportunities for securing business financing during wartime, highlighting the utilization of grants as non-repayable financial aid from Ukrainian institutions and international funds.
Together with Tim Kogan, an M&A and strategy advisor at Tim Kogan & Co, and former Director of Investment Banking at FinPoint and Capital Times, participants actively explored the issue of raising additional business financing, leveraging a real-life case study.
The program’s final day opened with a discussion on applying ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles for the sustainable development of SMEs. Nina Dombrovska, a member of the Soborna Europe SB, co-founder of Women on Boards Ukraine, and former President of Henkel Ukraine, shared her insights on this critical topic.
In conjunction with Myroslava Trandash, Managing Partner of TALENTOR recruitment agency, participants engaged in conversations about team building and management at various stages of business development and strategies for recruiting personnel.
With the guidance of Olena Yuzkova, a management consultant, business coach, facilitator, mediator, and MBA lecturer, participants developed innovative ideas, analyzed success factors, and searched for their unique selling points and business differentiators.
Partners in the implementation of this program were the Ukrainian Corporate Governance Institute, the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which, in cooperation with its partners, provided scholarship support to some of the programme participants. The participants included women leaders of Ukrainian business who joined the program with the support of the EBRD and funding from the Swedish government under the EBRD Small Business Support Fund (other donors: Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, the United States, Taiwan, and TaiwanBusiness – EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund).