The Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) has pointed out a large growth in addresses of enterprises, which are trying to explain their ordinary problems and the non-performance of obligations by force majeure, although after analyzing documents the Chamber decides not to issue force majeure evidence certificates to them.
“We consider unacceptable attempts by a large number of entrepreneurs and enterprises that try to invoke force majeure circumstances to avoid obligations to partners – be it a Ukrainian or foreign business or individuals. In these cases, we refuse to issue force majeure evidence certificates,” the press service of the UCCI said, citing President of the UCCI Hennadiy Chyzhykov.
According to the press release, the UCCI analyzes the terms of the contracts in relation to liability for failure to meet obligations and the grounds for exemption from them, in particular, in the event of force majeure.
Ukraine in January-December 2019 increased export of poultry by 26%, to 414,490 tonnes, the State Customs Service has reported. According to its report, in monetary terms exports of these products increased by 14.2%, to $578.63 million. In 2019, import of poultry and offal increased by 0.6% and amounted to 131,180 tonnes, in monetary terms by 1.2%, to $52.53 million.
In addition, according to the agency, pork exports in January-December 2019 amounted to 2,260 tonnes, which is 28.6% more than in 2018. These products were delivered for a total of $5.27 million (39.6% more).
Pork imports to Ukraine last year decreased by 18.8%, to 23,190 tonnes. Pork was imported to the country for $44.23 million, which is 14.8% less than the figure for 2018.
The leaders of Ukrainian companies named a shortage of labor among the main barriers to doing business in 2019, but 92% of them predict their businesses will grow in the next three years, according to the annual review made by KMPG in Ukraine.
According to the Global CEO Outlook study in Ukraine, during which 130 heads of companies were surveyed, 35% of CEOs (chief executive officer) plan to increase investment in innovation in the next three years, while among the heads of world companies 69% announced such plans.
At the same time, only 39% of the leaders of Ukrainian companies consider their business prepared for cyberattacks, and 31% found it difficult to evaluate their business regarding cyber security, the report says.
At the same time, 52% of managers called staff training the key strategy for preparing the company for the future, 57% would prefer to invest in labor than in technology. However, the global survey shows a different trend – only 32% of the heads of global companies surveyed prefer investment in human resources compared to investments in technology.
Only 16% of organizations around the world have implemented artificial intelligence in the automation of some of their business processes. In Ukraine, given the low labor costs, CEOs see the achievement of return on investment in artificial intelligence and process automation as a distant future.
Among the risks for business development, the heads of Ukrainian companies, in addition to labor shortages, noted regulatory and operational risks, as well as return to economic nationalism.
The transport companies of Ukraine in January-May 2019 reduced passenger traffic by 5.9% compared with January-April 2018, to 1.796 billion people, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to its data, passenger turnover over the period amounted to 42 billion passenger-kilometers, which is 4.3% more than a year ago.
According to the State Statistics Service, in January-May 2019, 63.1 million passengers were carried by rail (including the city train), which is 0.1% less than in January-May 2018, and 761.8 million passengers by road (5.6% less).
Airlines raised passenger traffic by 10.6%, to 4.6 million people.
In addition, according to the State Statistics Service, in January-May 2019 some 262.5 million passengers used trams (a decrease of 9.6% compared with January-May 2018), subways carried 298.6 million (a decrease of 1.2%), while trolleybuses 405.7 million (a fall of 8.4%).
Transportation of passengers by water transport grew by 3.3%, to 0.1 million.
According to the State Statistics Service, the data is provided excluding the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of temporarily occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine represents the biggest investors and largest multinationals operating in Ukraine which contribute greatly to the state budget and create jobs at home. In April 2019, the following companies joined AmCham Ukraine family:
Burda Ukraine
The Burda Media Company is a subsidiary of the international concern Hubert Burda Media and owns more than 45 brands with a total coverage of 4 million in print and 2.5 million online. Among them are “Marie Claire”, “Playboy”, “Lisa”, “Rest!”, “Burda Style”, “Good Tips”, “My Child”, “Autosvit”, “The Ideas of Your Home”, “I Love Cooking” , “My Beautiful Garden”, “Grandma’s Compote” and “House in the Garden”, on-line projects “Na-proby” and GLAM.
Andriy Vdovychenko, CEO:
“I find AmCham Ukraine a great platform not only for communicating with people from different companies, but also for dialogue with government officials. The workshops and trainings organized here are a great tool for the development of our employees. I hope that our membership gives our company the opportunity not only to protect business interests, but also to expand its business in Ukraine through new contacts and ideas.”
Allergan Ukraine LLC
Allergan is a bold, global pharmaceutical company. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world.
Oleksandr Uskov, CEO:
“The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine is the leading platform for communication between companies within our industry, among other industries and all stakeholders in Ukraine. We are looking forward to new opportunities for improving dialogue with state authorities and public figures“.
Arсhimed
Arсhimed is a service company, authorized importer to Ukraine of medical devices and other products for healthcare manufactured by Hartmann AG. Arсhimed provide sales representative services and expert support for the full product life cycle on Ukrainian market.
Nickolay Romanok, CEO:
“During the process of overcoming the peculiarities of the regulatory environment of our country we need transparent communication with government and business community. I consider that AmCham Ukraine will become as effective platform for these aims.”
Accountor
Accountor started working in Ukraine in 2008 as a provider of business processes outsourcing. The company is a part of Accountor Group, the largest financial and HR services group of companies in Northern Europe. Our clients can focus on developing their business while we take care of their bookkeeping and ensure legal support.
Timo Matinpalo, CEO:
“We are happy to be a part of AmCham Ukraine. To provide high-quality business support means to constantly improve your knowledge, to be the first to learn about legislative changes and market innovations, and to respond to customer needs. Thus, AmCham enables companies to share their knowledge and experience about the challenges and opportunities businesses face today.”
KNESS Group, LLC
KNESS is Ukrainian group of companies that develop technologies and implement traditional and renewable energy projects, providing the design, construction/reconstruction and commissioning of power facilities as a complete set of activities. Recently company became one of the first to become an open list of reliable contractors in Ukraine, which investors can trust.
Sergey Shakalov, Director:
“Participation in AmCham Ukraine allows you to join the practice of global business leaders, to interact with the international community and expand the opportunities for foreign investment, which gives a powerful impetus to the development of the national market.”
Kreston GCG
Kreston GCG is the Ukrainian representative of Kreston International – one of the world’s largest accounting and consulting firms with over 25,000 professionals in 125 countries around the world. Company is a leading specialist in providing audit, valuation, tax and legal services.
Sergiy Atamas, Managing Partner:
“We are pleased to be a part of AmCham Ukraine and made our choice understanding grand potential of future cooperation. Comparing the activities of the first ten business organizations and communities in Ukraine: the leader is clearly defined by the participants, intensity, openness and usefulness”.
SDM Partners
SDM Partners provides the full range of legal services to domestic and foreign businesses, governmental authorities, international organizations and financial institutions throughout Ukraine.
Dmytro Syrota, Managing Partner
“We are pleased to join the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, the most active and effective business-oriented network in Ukraine, where we will have the opportunity to strengthen the relationship between Ukrainian and American business communities”.
NETWAVE LLC
NETWAVE operates in Ukraine since 2011 and become a specialized network integrator that solves IT tasks of development, implementation, modernization and maintenance of organizations and enterprises corporate information networks and systems.
Yuriy Sуdorenko, Director:
“Our team is very glad to join the Chamber. We want to understand better how IT can help businesses. AmCham Ukraine platform provides great opportunities for communicating with clients and partners, resulting in a mutually beneficial result. Networking, presentations and other events help to understand customer needs and adapt our business strategy”.
About the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine:
The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine has been operating in Ukraine since 1992. The Chamber cooperates closely with Ukrainian authorities to improve the business environment and attract foreign investment into the economy, advocates for predictable, transparent, equitable and stable rules of doing business. More information here: http://www.chamber.ua
The Ukrainian designer of software Intellias is mulling a possibility of acquiring some companies for further growth, including companies with development centers in Eastern Europe, the co-founder and Board Chairman of Intellias Mykhailo Puzrakov has said in an interview with Die Welt. “So far we have grown organically. I believe, however, that maybe even next year we could start to consider some acquisitions. We are interested in companies that could interact with Intellias: companies with development centers in Eastern Europe, or companies with a client base that could complement ours. In addition, we will consider companies that have some experience or products that will help us gain new customers,” he said.
Puzrakov also announced plans to expand the company’s presence in Berlin next year – now only one employee works in the Berlin office of Intellias.
According to him, today one of the main advantages of Intellias is the ability to quickly scale the team, which is often required by their European customers.
Puzrakov also said that the company has ceased to be a startup, moving into the category of a successful and profitable business, but is still at the beginning of the growth stage.
Intellias was founded in Lviv in 2002. Its offices are located in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Berlin.
