A one-time check of a counterparty before concluding a contract does not make it possible to fully control commercial risks: a company’s financial condition, its owners, management and payment discipline may change already in the course of cooperation. Therefore, Ukrainian businesses should move from one-time checks to continuous monitoring of key partners.
International business information systems, including Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), make it possible not only to obtain information about a company before starting cooperation, but also to track changes in its profile.
According to Maksym Urakin, Director of Development and Marketing at Interfax-Ukraine and head of the D&B-Interfax-Ukraine business unit, monitoring is particularly important for companies to which a Ukrainian supplier regularly provides deferred payment terms or with which a significant volume of turnover is associated.
“A counterparty may have looked absolutely reliable at the time the contract was signed, but six months later the situation may be different. The company’s debt burden may increase, its owner or management may change, or its payment discipline may deteriorate. If the supplier learns about this only after an overdue payment, managing the risk becomes significantly more difficult,” Urakin noted.
International D&B databases are used to track changes in corporate data and assess business risks. Depending on the information available for a particular jurisdiction, a user can analyze changes in an enterprise’s financial condition, its corporate structure and other characteristics.
This approach is particularly relevant for companies with a large number of customers and suppliers. With hundreds or thousands of counterparties, regularly checking each of them manually is practically impossible.
“Businesses need to identify critically important partners. The greater a counterparty’s debt to the company, or the more strongly the supply chain depends on it, the higher the frequency and depth of monitoring should be,” Urakin believes.
A change in risk indicators does not necessarily require the immediate termination of cooperation. It may serve as a signal to revise the credit limit, shorten the payment deferral period, request additional collateral or conduct a more in-depth check.
A separate area is supplier monitoring. Financial problems at a raw-material producer, carrier or another critically important partner can lead to a halt in supplies even when the Ukrainian company’s own financial position remains stable.
According to Experts Club, Ukrainian enterprises should divide counterparties at least according to their level of financial significance and the potential damage from default or termination of supplies, while the most critical partners should be monitored continuously.
“In a modern risk management system, the question should be not only ‘whom did we check before concluding the contract,’ but also ‘what has changed with our largest counterparties since the check.’ It is monitoring that makes it possible to identify a problem before it turns into a direct financial loss,” Urakin emphasized.
Dun & Bradstreet is an international provider of business data and analytical solutions whose history began in 1841. The company provides tools for business identification, counterparty checks, assessment of credit and commercial risks, compliance, supply chain management and work with corporate data.
The official representative of Dun & Bradstreet in Ukraine is the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. The specialized D&B-Interfax-Ukraine unit helps Ukrainian companies work with international business data, check foreign partners and obtain a D-U-N-S Number.
The expansion of Ukrainian companies into foreign markets increases the importance of conducting preliminary checks on potential buyers and distributors. The risks are particularly high when working with a new counterparty on deferred payment terms, Dun & Bradstreet analysts note.
One of the tools for such checks is Dun & Bradstreet’s (D&B) international business information databases, which make it possible to identify a company, verify its registration data, ownership structure, financial indicators, operating history and associated risks.
When entering a new market, Ukrainian companies often focus primarily on finding a buyer and agreeing on commercial terms, while checking the buyer’s solvency remains a secondary task.
“Receiving an order does not yet mean receiving the money. For an exporter, a situation is particularly dangerous when the first large shipment is made to a new partner with deferred payment. Before signing such a contract, it is necessary to understand whether the company actually exists, how long it has been operating, what its financial indicators are, who its owner is and how high the credit risk associated with this counterparty is,” said Maksym Urakin, Director of Development and Marketing at Interfax-Ukraine, Head of the D&B-Interfax-Ukraine business unit, PhD in Economics.
Dun & Bradstreet has a global database containing information on hundreds of millions of companies. A unique nine-digit D-U-N-S Number is used to identify businesses, making it possible to distinguish between legal entities with similar names and link companies within corporate groups.
For a Ukrainian exporter, such a check is particularly relevant when working with companies that are offering a large contract for the first time, requesting a significant payment deferral or acting as intermediaries between the manufacturer and the end buyer.
Depending on the country and the availability of information, a D&B business report may contain registration details, information about executives and owners, financial statements, information on corporate relationships, credit ratings and other indicators used for risk assessment.
“The cost of a check is almost always incomparable with the potential loss from a single unpaid export shipment. International business information should be viewed not as an additional reference, but as one of the elements of the decision-making procedure regarding the credit limit, the amount of prepayment and the terms of the contract,” Maksym Urakin believes.
At the same time, negative information about a potential partner does not necessarily mean that the transaction should be rejected. It may serve as a basis for changing its terms — increasing the prepayment, reducing the size of the first shipment, using a bank guarantee, trade credit insurance or shortening the deferred payment period.
Dun & Bradstreet is an international provider of business data and analytical solutions whose history began in 1841. The company provides tools for business identification, counterparty verification, assessment of credit and commercial risks, compliance, supply chain management and work with corporate data.
The official representative of Dun & Bradstreet in Ukraine is the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. The specialized D&B-Interfax-Ukraine unit helps Ukrainian companies work with international business data, verify foreign partners and obtain a D-U-N-S Number.
Questions can be submitted through the specialized D&B resource — dnb.ua, by email at Urakin@interfax.kyiv.ua or by phone at +38 (044) 270-65-74.
COUNTERPARTY, D&B, DUN & BRADSTREET, EXPORT, UKRAINE, URAKIN
Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) is expanding the use of its global corporate data system in artificial intelligence-based solutions: in September, the company announced the integration of D&B Commercial Graph with Microsoft and IBM AI platforms.
On September 16, D&B announced new integrations via the Model Context Protocol (MCP) with Microsoft Copilot Studio and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales AI agents. They make it possible to use verified information about legal entities, ownership structures, corporate relationships and risks directly in automated workflows.
As early as September 17, the company announced that D&B Commercial Graph had also become available in the IBM watsonx Orchestrate agent catalog via MCP.
The integration enables corporate AI systems to obtain verified business context while performing tasks in finance, credit analysis, compliance, procurement, sales, marketing and corporate data management.
A key element of the system remains the D-U-N-S Number — a unique nine-digit identifier for a legal entity that allows AI systems to unambiguously identify a company and link information about it from different sources.
Earlier in 2026, Dun & Bradstreet also announced the integration of its business data with OpenAI, Anthropic Claude and Gemini-based solutions. In particular, D&B’s cooperation with OpenAI makes it possible to use D&B Commercial Graph in ChatGPT and Codex via MCP for financial and analytical tasks.
“Artificial intelligence is moving very quickly from search and text generation to real corporate decisions — counterparty verification, supplier assessment, credit analysis or compliance. In such a model, it is critically important what specific data AI uses to make or recommend decisions,” said Maksym Urakin, Director of Development and Marketing at Interfax-Ukraine, Head of the D&B-Interfax-Ukraine business unit, and PhD in Economics.
According to him, publicly available information from the internet is insufficient for critically important business decisions.
“AI can process information very quickly, but speed alone does not guarantee its reliability. If the system has incorrectly identified a legal entity, failed to identify the parent company, beneficiary or a change in the ownership structure, automation will only accelerate the error. That is why verified corporate data are becoming the foundation of corporate AI,” Urakin emphasized.
Dun & Bradstreet reports that its global information infrastructure covers more than 600 million public and private companies in more than 200 countries.
For Ukrainian companies, the development of such technologies means that international business identification and the quality of corporate data will become even more important. Whereas previously information about a company was mainly checked by an employee of a bank, investor or procurement department, in the future part of such verification will increasingly be carried out by automated AI systems.
Discrepancies in a company’s English-language name, address, information about management or owners may, in such a situation, affect not only the speed of manual due diligence, but also the results of automated analysis.
“Ukrainian business must prepare for an environment in which it will increasingly be checked not by a person, but by an algorithm. For this, the corporate profile must be unambiguous, up to date and suitable for machine identification. The D-U-N-S Number and D&B’s global business data are effectively becoming one of the instruments of such digital trust,” Urakin added.
Dun & Bradstreet is an international provider of business data and analytical solutions whose history began in 1841. The company provides tools for business identification, counterparty verification, credit and commercial risk assessment, compliance, supply chain management and working with corporate data.
The official representative of Dun & Bradstreet in Ukraine is the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. The specialized D&B-Interfax-Ukraine unit helps Ukrainian companies work with international business data, verify foreign partners and obtain a D-U-N-S Number.
Questions can be submitted through the specialized D&B resource — dnb.ua, by email at Urakin@interfax.kyiv.ua, or by phone at +38 (044) 270-65-74.
artificial intelligence, BUSINESS DATA, DUN & BRADSTREET, IBM, MICROSOFT
The large-scale reconstruction of Ukraine will mean a significant increase in the number of international contracts, tenders, subcontracts and joint projects involving the state, international financial organizations, donors and private capital. For Ukrainian companies, access to such projects will increasingly depend on their ability to quickly confirm their legal and business transparency.
International customers check potential contractors before concluding a contract: their legal status, owners and beneficiaries, corporate ties, business history, financial condition, sanctions exposure and compliance risks. Business verification is therefore effectively becoming part of the infrastructure of future reconstruction.
“It is important for Ukrainian companies to prepare for reconstruction projects before a specific tender has already been announced. An international partner first looks at whether a company can be quickly identified, its ownership structure understood and its risks assessed. The more transparent the business profile, the less time due diligence takes and the better prepared the company is for international cooperation,” said Maksym Urakin, Director of Development and Marketing at Interfax-Ukraine, Head of the D&B-Interfax-Ukraine Business Division and PhD in Economics.
This is particularly important for small and medium-sized businesses. A Ukrainian company may possess strong manufacturing expertise but lose opportunities because of incomplete or inconsistent corporate data, a lack of information in English, outdated information about its management or an opaque ownership structure.
Preparing for international verification includes checking the company’s registration data, updating contact details, describing its business activities, confirming its ownership structure, analyzing financial statements and understanding what risk signals a foreign customer or bank may identify.
D&B uses standardized international business data to identify legal entities and build corporate profiles. Such data is used by companies, banks and procurement organizations in KYC, due diligence, supplier onboarding and risk management processes.
For Ukraine, developing a culture of corporate transparency may become one of the practical factors in attracting private capital and integrating Ukrainian suppliers into international reconstruction projects.
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 official representative of Dun & Bradstreet in Ukraine is the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency. The specialized 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.
Inquiries can be submitted through the specialized D&B resource — dnb.ua, by email at Urakin@interfax.kyiv.ua or by phone at +38 (044) 270-65-74.
BUSINESS VERIFICATION, DUN & BRADSTREET, UKRAINE RECONSTRUCTION
For Ukrainian companies, participation in international tenders increasingly requires not only a high-quality commercial proposal but also standardised international business identification. One of the most widely used identifiers is the D-U-N-S Number — a unique nine-digit number assigned to companies within the global Dun & Bradstreet system.
The D-U-N-S Number is used by international corporations, financial institutions, procurement platforms, and certain government and donor organisations to unambiguously identify a legal entity. For a Ukrainian company, having such a number may be necessary when registering in a supplier system, undergoing due diligence, or submitting documents to participate in a tender.
“An international tender does not begin with the price. First, the customer must make sure that it is dealing with a genuine legal entity with a verified name, address, and business profile. The D-U-N-S Number helps connect a Ukrainian company to the global business identification system and simplifies its verification by international partners,” Maksym Urakin noted.
Before obtaining or updating a D-U-N-S Number, a company should verify the correct English-language spelling of its legal name, address, legal form, contact details, and management information. Discrepancies between registration documents, the corporate website, and the international profile may delay verification.
The D-U-N-S Number is particularly relevant for companies seeking to become suppliers to large international groups, work with global IT platforms, participate in procurement by donor organisations, or systematically enter the markets of the EU, the United States, and other countries.
At the same time, the number itself is not a certificate of reliability and does not guarantee success in a tender. Its function is to ensure the unambiguous identification of a business and link a legal entity to an international business profile that the customer can use during verification.
Dun & Bradstreet maintains the global D-U-N-S business identification system and develops solutions for company verification, risk assessment, compliance, and supplier management. In Ukraine, companies may contact the D&B — Interfax-Ukraine division regarding the obtaining and updating of a D-U-N-S Number.
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 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 assists them in working with D&B tools.
Enquiries can be submitted through the specialised D&B resource at dnb.ua, by email at Urakin@interfax.kyiv.ua, or by telephone at +38 (044) 270-65-74.
BUSINESS VERIFICATION, D-U-N-S Number, DUN & BRADSTREET, INTERNATIONAL TENDERS
To enter new export markets and check counterparties around the world, Interfax-Ukraine offers products and solutions from Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE: DNB), the world’s leader on the market of information about legal entities. Products of the D&B group (Dun & Bradstreet):
GRS (Global Reference Solution) is a global online corporate directory that helps carry out an express analysis of marketing environment, search for partners and clients, verify addresses. Being available on the Internet, it covers 230 million companies all over the world.
D&B Report – business inquiries of companies (Business Information Report) – obtaining an extending examination of the activities of any company worldwide. Data are received within 3-14 days, depending on the country.
D&B KYC Report (Know Your Customer) – checking companies for being in the black and sanctions lists around the world. With the help of D&B’s capabilities, you and your employees will be able to:
– check foreign partners and counterparties in all countries;
– build corporate relations of companies;
– minimize the risks of payments and contract performance;
– search for potential customers and partners around the world.
D&B’s business valuation ratings are the global benchmark for making decisions on cooperation. At the same time, due to the volume of orders and well-practiced procedure for doing business, D&B services are affordable, while access to information has a convenient interface.
Our solutions can be useful for:
– marketing departments (direct marketing, telemarketing, market research, analysis of competitors, search and evaluation of suppliers of products and services);
– sales departments (forming a client base, searching for reliable contacts);
– procurement departments (evaluation of counterparties and association of suppliers within corporate relationships);
– risk managers (evaluation of the risks of interaction with counterparties, partners and customers);
– financial departments (checking counterparties and preparing reports, including on transfer pricing);
– legal departments (reference information on counterparties);
– security services (accurate and thorough inspection of companies).
Interfax-Ukraine is an authorized partner of D&B (Dun & Bradstreet) in Ukraine.
Maksim Urakin is the project manager.
For consultations, as well as cooperation, please contact Interfax-Ukraine’s commercial department by phone:
+38 (044) 270 6574,
e-mail: urakin@interfax.kiev.ua
www.dnb.ua
