When entering new markets, Ukrainian exporters often focus on the product, price, certification and logistics. However, it is also important for a foreign buyer to understand exactly which company it is entering into a contract with, who owns it, how long it has been operating and whether it can fulfil long-term obligations.
An international business reputation is shaped not only through marketing. Foreign banks, distributors, retail chains and corporate buyers may use external business databases to verify a supplier. If information about a Ukrainian company is incomplete, inconsistent or outdated, this may raise additional questions even before negotiations begin.
“An exporter should look at itself through the eyes of the buyer. It may be obvious to a Ukrainian company that it is genuinely operating and has production facilities, a team and customers. For a partner abroad, this must be confirmed by data. A transparent international business profile lowers the information barrier and helps move more quickly from an introduction to a contract,” said Maksym Urakin, Director of Development and Marketing at Interfax-Ukraine, Head of the D&B–Interfax-Ukraine business division and Candidate of Economic Sciences.
It is advisable to check how the company’s legal name, address, management, ownership structure, industry classification and other basic characteristics are presented in international sources. Particular attention should be paid to the consistency of its English-language name in contracts, on its website, in banking documents and in international databases.
For an exporter, this is important not only during the first transaction. A company profile may be used when establishing a credit limit, insuring trade risk, opening an account, connecting to a procurement platform or assessing a supplier by a major corporate customer.
Dun & Bradstreet provides international companies with tools for business identification and analysis. Through D&B–Interfax-Ukraine, Ukrainian enterprises can work with international business data and check how their corporate information appears to potential partners abroad.
Transparency does not replace a competitive price or product quality, but it reduces uncertainty for the buyer. In a market where suppliers compete not only on product but also on reliability, this becomes a separate component of export competitiveness.
Dun & Bradstreet is an international provider of business data and analytical solutions whose history began in 1841. D&B works with data on companies worldwide and provides tools for business identification, counterparty verification, assessment of credit and commercial risks, compliance and supply chain management.
The official representative of Dun & Bradstreet in Ukraine is the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency. The specialised D&B–Interfax-Ukraine division provides Ukrainian companies with access to international business data, helps them verify foreign counterparties and work with D&B tools.
