The pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of business processes for 39% of respondents out of 74 surveyed managers of companies in various sectors of the economy, 42% intend to reduce office space, according to a report “Business leaders’ view in Ukraine 2020: Special issue of COVID-19” by KPMG company in Ukraine. “Leaders understand that increased digitalization is one of the main drivers of organizational development. Companies have to reсonsider what customers want and how they can achieve it,” the report said on Friday.
However, capital shortages and a lack of consensus on key technology trends are the biggest challenges in accelerating digital transformation, the report said.
At the same time, the most successful were converting operations into a “figure” (39% of respondents) and the creation of new digital business models and income streams (36%), according to the survey, which was conducted from July 15 to August 31 of this year.
At the same time, 30% indicated that progress in digitalization not only accelerated, but put the company forward for years to come.
When asked about the barriers to digital transformation, 22% indicated a lack of capital to accelerate progress (7% globally).
According to world leaders, the biggest challenge is to focus efforts and investments in areas that will be promising in the future, while avoiding areas that may be only a short-term response to the pandemic.
As a result, 33% of global CEOs identified the biggest challenge in accelerating digital transformation as “a lack of understanding of future operational processes.” Companies need to understand if COVID-19-related changes (such as consumer behavior) are indicative of an ongoing trend, or just a temporary effect of the pandemic.
In Ukraine, “a lack of understanding of future operational processes” was recognized as the main challenge by 14% of managers , the authors of the report said.
Regulatory pressures were cited by many respondents as the top threat to businesses in 2020, while executives prioritized staff shortages last year.
“This risk continues to be on their radar, but has shifted to fourth position,” added the authors of the reports.
At the same time, according to the survey, 73% of respondents in the world and 39% in Ukraine are convinced that remote work has expanded their access to the pre-personnel reserve.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk on his victory over Briton Derek Chisora.
“Oleksandr, this was a stunning victory! Ukraine is proud!” He wrote on his Twitter on Sunday, November, 1.
On the night of October 31 to November 1 in London, Usyk, according to the decision of the judges, became the WBO Intercontinental heavyweight champion.
BOXER, OLEKSANDR USYK, PRESIDENT ZELENSKY, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY
Ukraine is heading towards economic issues in foreign policy and intends to develop trust and trade relations with Israel, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniychuk said during the third Ukrainian-Israeli Innovation Summit in Kyiv.
“I support the proposal of our President and Foreign Minister about economization of our foreign policy. In our case, this includes such important aspects as the development of investment attractiveness, innovative technologies and trade relations between Ukraine and Israel. These are all real things, but for this we need to develop trust between our nations. We also need to support the agricultural sector, which needs Israeli technologies, irrigation systems, in everything that is aimed at its support and development,” Korniychuk said.
He said that the non-diplomatic trade and innovation mission of Ukraine in Jerusalem will also address these areas.
“This will also be a priority for the embassy in the next 6-12 months. We have already discussed the issue of premises for this mission, but the main question remains who will be involved in the B2B area in the mission,” the diplomat said.
The ambassador also announced his intention to pay more attention to popularizing the investment attractiveness of Ukraine. “Israel for me is a country with which I practiced law for many years, paying attention to supporting foreign direct investment in Ukraine. And I intend to be a lawyer for all Israeli investors in Ukraine and to promote their investments,” he said.
“My mission in Israel begins next week, and after the quarantine, I will have meetings with representatives of the government and parliament. I am looking forward to it,” Korniychuk said.
The Ukrainian government has decided to optimize the issuance of electronic visas (e-Visas), including for citizens of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, according to the Ukrainian Embassy in Thailand.
“From November 1, 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will start issuing Ukrainian electronic visas for citizens of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos under a new, modern and convenient procedure,” the embassy said on the Facebook page.
Thus, to apply for an electronic visa, you should register on the MFA web platform https://evisa.mfa.gov.ua/; fill out a questionnaire, upload a photo and scanned copies of documents (passport, invitation, etc.), pay the consular fee with a bank card; receive an e-Visa by e-mail (sent in the PDF format).
It is noted that to enter Ukraine, it is required to print out the received e-Visa and present it with the passport to the border authorities of Ukraine at the checkpoints across the state border.
An electronic visa is issued for a single or double entry to Ukraine for up to 30 days with a business, private, tourist purpose, for medical treatment, activities in the field of culture, science, education, sports, performance of official duties by a foreign journalist or a representative of a foreign media.
Investment of the pharmaceutical company Biopharma is $15-20 million, co-owner of the company Kostiantyn Yefymenko has said.
“We have already invested $125 million in production facilities. We continue to invest $15-20 million every year. And we have not yet begun to build a second plant, for example, in Egypt. When we build it, investments will be even bigger,” he said during a discussion panel at the Kyiv International Economic Forum.
Yefymenko said that “the decision to sell the plant to the pharmaceutical company STADA was strategic.”
“We have built two plants. One plant that produces generic drugs, hormones and probiotics, we brought to a turnover of EUR 40 million and sold it completely to STADA,” he said, adding that “STADA and not only STADA is watching and continues to look at not only Biopharma, but also other pharmaceutical companies.”
Yefymenko spoke about the negotiations between Biopharma and STADA. “I can’t say that it took much time for them to come. STADA bought the plant and we have a completely transparent fence with them, because we are on the same site. STADA and I have remained partners, since all the infrastructure that we built, we have with them 50×50. This is a transformer substation, gas hydraulic fracturing, water supply, sewage and fire protection system,” he said.
“STADA is considering the possibility of expanding its plant, we are considering expanding our plant,” Yefymenko said
The volume of construction works performed in Ukraine in September 2020 increased by 11.8% compared to September 2019, while in August compared to August a year earlier – by 8.3%.
According to the State Statistics Service (Derzhstat), since the beginning of the year, the volume of construction works completed amounted to UAH 119.8 billion. In general, in January-September this year, this figure increased by 0.2% compared to the same period last year.
According to the statistics department, in September the indicator increased by 18.3% compared to the previous month (according to seasonally adjusted data – by 2.5%), while in August compared to July this indicator increased by 3.6%.
According to the State Statistics Service, in September 2020 in comparison with September 2019, the volume of work decreased in housing construction and increased in non-residential and engineering one. Thus, according to unadjusted data, the decrease in volumes in housing construction was 7.1%. At the same time, the construction of non-residential buildings increased by 10.9%, engineering structures – by 18.5%.
The share of new construction in the total volume of completed construction works was 38.1%, repairs – 34.1%, reconstruction and technical re-equipment – 27.8%.
In January-September 2020, compared to the same period a year earlier, an increase in the volume of construction works was recorded in Donetsk (by 36%, to UAH 5.37 billion), Khmelnytsky (by 35.3%, to UAH 3.47 billion), Chernihiv (by 34.7%, to UAH 1.67 billion), Odesa (by 23.9%, to UAH 14.45 billion), Kyiv (by 22%, to UAH 8 billion), Lviv (by 10.9% , to UAH 8 billion), Sumy (by 9.8%, to UAH 1 billion), Chernivtsi (by 7.9%, to UAH 1.39 billion), Poltava (by 4.1%, to UAH 5.48 billion), Vinnytsia (by 2.4%, to UAH 6.21 billion), Volyn (by 1.4%, to UAH 1.41 billion) and Cherkasy (by 0.1%, to UAH 1.32 billion) regions.
In the remaining 12 regions and the city of Kyiv, a drop in the volume of construction works was recorded, in particular, in Zaporizhia (by 35.4%, to UAH 1.71 billion), Kirovohrad (by 35.3%, to UAH 893.7 million), Kherson (by 32.6% to UAH 787.3 million). In Kyiv, the volume of construction works performed during this period decreased by 5.5% and amounted to UAH 26.8 billion.
The statistics are given without taking into account the occupied Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
