Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly seeking customers, investors, and partners abroad. However, for many small companies, the main problem is not the quality of their product but their low international visibility: a foreign partner simply does not have enough data to quickly identify and assess the company.
In international trade, a corporate presence consists of more than just a website and social media pages. Large companies and banks use professional business databases to verify legal information, addresses, management, industries, the scale of operations, corporate connections, and other information.
“For small businesses, the problem often sounds like this: ‘We are a real company, but no one abroad knows anything about us.’ That is why international business identification is important not only for large corporations. It helps a small Ukrainian company become understandable to a procurement professional, bank, or potential partner in another country,” Maksym Urakin noted.
SMEs should monitor the consistency of their legal and commercial information, maintain a consistent English-language spelling of their name, provide up-to-date contact details, and have a clear description of their activities. It is also important for a company planning to export to understand how it is classified in international systems and whether it can be easily found using industry-specific parameters.
D&B’s international data can be used not only to verify other companies but also to create and update a company’s own business profile. This is particularly relevant for companies seeking to connect to global procurement platforms or work with corporate clients.
Greater visibility does not guarantee a contract, but it reduces the information barrier between Ukrainian SMEs and foreign markets. In many cases, the speed at which a company can be verified determines whether a potential partner will proceed to the next stage of negotiations.
D&B — Interfax-Ukraine helps Ukrainian companies work with international business data and business identification tools.
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, credit and commercial risk assessment, compliance, and supply chain management.
The Interfax-Ukraine News Agency is the official representative of Dun & Bradstreet in Ukraine. The specialized D&B — Interfax-Ukraine division provides Ukrainian companies with access to international business data, helps them verify foreign counterparties, and assists them in working with D&B tools.
Questions can be submitted through the specialized D&B resource — dnb.ua, by email at Urakin@interfax.kyiv.ua, or by telephone at +38 (044) 270-65-74.
