The International Soft Skills Summit 2026, dedicated to the development of individuals, teams, and organizations in the era of artificial intelligence, will take place September 12–14 in a hybrid format and will bring together more than 70 Ukrainian and international experts.
According to the event organizers, the first day of the summit will take place in person in Kyiv with an online livestream, while the remaining two days will be held online. More than 5,000 participants are expected to attend.
The summit will also feature the inaugural Soft Skills Summit Awards 2026—a professional award for corporate programs in the areas of leadership development, talent development, team development, corporate culture, and soft skills.
According to the organizers, the Soft Skills Summit program is structured around three levels of development: the individual, the team, and the organization.
On September 12, the program will focus on individual development. On this day in Kyiv, there will be presentations on the main stage, panel discussions, hands-on Soft Skills Hubs, a Mindfulness Zone, an EXPO, Guided Speed Networking, and the awards ceremony for the winners of the Soft Skills Summit Awards 2026.
On September 13, the online program will focus on team development, communication, psychological safety, and modern approaches to leadership.
On September 14, participants will discuss corporate culture, talent and change management, organizational effectiveness, and corporate transformation driven by artificial intelligence.
“Today, a company’s competitive advantage is determined not only by technology. It is determined by people—their ability to think, interact, learn, and lead others through change. That is why we created the Soft Skills Summit—a platform that brings together global expertise and Ukrainian experience to help people, teams, and organizations prepare for the future,” said Ihor Lukianenko and Nataliia Novhorodska, co-founders of UpPro School and the Soft Skills Summit.
The organizers note that the development of soft skills is taking on added significance amid the spread of artificial intelligence technologies and changing labor market demands.
According to a World Economic Forum forecast, by 2030, approximately 39% of the professional skills required for work will have changed. Among the competencies expected to grow in importance the fastest are analytical thinking, resilience, adaptability, creativity, leadership, and social influence.
For Ukraine, the relevance of this issue is also linked to labor shortages, the integration of veterans and internally displaced persons into the labor market, the potential return of Ukrainians from abroad, the need to develop management teams, and the implementation of AI tools in business processes.
Among the announced speakers for the Soft Skills Summit 2026 are Andriy Fedoriv, founder of Fedoriv Group; Richard E. Boyatzis (U.S.), communications expert and TED speaker Julian Treasure (U.K.), SoftServe Senior Vice President of HR Renta Delporte, Advanter Group Chairman Andriy Dligach, PwC Ukraine Academy Leader Iryna Blinova, business consultant Frank Pucelik (U.S.), Shola Kaye (UK), an expert in communications and People-First culture, and Chen Lizra (Canada), a somatic transformational coach and TED speaker.
The full program and information on participation are available on the Soft Skills Summit 2026 website.
The summit is aimed at business owners, CEOs, team leaders, HR and L&D professionals, business trainers, coaches, psychologists, consultants, and other specialists working in the field of people and organizational development.
As part of the Soft Skills Summit Awards 2026, the best programs will be recognized in five categories: leadership development, talent development, team and corporate culture development, mental health support, and innovation in soft skills training and development.
Projects will be evaluated using a unified methodology developed by the UpPro School Analytical Center in collaboration with the non-governmental organization “Independent Association of Psychology and Coaching” and an independent panel of experts. The organizers state that the main criteria will be the program’s professional value, the quality of its implementation, and its actual impact, regardless of the company’s size.
Detailed information about the award and the terms of participation is available on the Soft Skills Summit Awards 2026 page.
The summit is organized by UpPro School—an international educational center for training and professional development of psychologists, HR and L&D specialists, managers, and other professionals working in the field of people, team, and organizational development. According to the organizers, UpPro School is an accredited CPD provider in the United Kingdom; over 150,000 participants have taken part in the center’s educational events, and more than 8,000 students have completed professional training.
For readers of “Open4business,” the promo code Open4business is available, offering a 10% discount on tickets to the Soft Skills Summit 2026. The promo code is valid through September 11, 2026.
For partnership inquiries, contact Svitlana Chaurova at partnerships@softskills-summit.com.
Open4Business is the official media partner of the event
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has granted JSC “ZNVKIF ‘Kingston’” permission to acquire control over Dmitry Buryak’s LLC “Business Center on Illinskaya.” According to a statement on the agency’s website, the relevant approval was granted on Thursday.
According to data from the YouControl analytical system, the ultimate beneficiary of JSC “ZNVKIF ‘Kingston’” (Kyiv) is listed as Oleg Vysotsky, who served as head of the State Consumer Standards Service in 2006.
The owner of “BC on Illinska” LLC (Kyiv) is listed as “Concern Europe” LLC (100%), and the ultimate beneficiary is businessman Dmytro Buryak.
The “Ilyinsky” Business Center is part of the portfolio of the DeVision group of companies, whose board of directors was chaired by Buryak. According to information on the business center’s website, its total area is 44,200 square meters, with 37,100 square meters of office space. The underground parking garage has 154 parking spaces.
DeVision is also developing the Seven residential complex in the Darnytskyi district of the capital in partnership with Stolitsa Group. In addition, Buryak owns the company that commissioned the construction of the “Ilyinsky” residential complex at 21 Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska Street in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district.
As previously reported, Oleg Vysotsky’s Comfort Mol LLC received approval from the AMCU in August 2026 to acquire a single property complex from Osta Plus LLC, owned by Alexander and Sergey Buryak.
More than half of all notaries in Ukraine are concentrated in Kyiv and the country’s four largest regions, according to an Experts Club analysis based on data from the Unified Register of Notaries.
As of the end of August 2026, there were 6,156 notaries in Ukraine. Of these, 3,162, or about 51.4%, were registered only in Kyiv and the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv and Odesa regions.
Kyiv remains the absolute leader, with 1,365 notaries. Thus, the capital accounts for more than 22% of all specialists in the country, meaning that in practice every fifth Ukrainian notary is based there.
There are 460 notaries registered in the Kharkiv region, 457 in the Dnipropetrovsk region, 449 in the Lviv region, and 431 in the Odesa region.
According to Experts Club, this structure reflects the high concentration of demand for notarial services in the country’s largest economic and business centers, where real estate transactions, corporate deals, inheritance cases and other legally significant transactions are concentrated.
At the same time, the highest growth rates over the past year were recorded not in major centers, but in frontline regions with a low comparison base.
In the Luhansk region, the number of notaries increased from 4 to 22, or 5.5 times. In the Kherson region, it rose from 33 to 84, or 2.5 times. In the Donetsk region, the figure increased from 48 to 63, and in the Zaporizhzhia region, from 114 to 147.
One of the reasons for this dynamic was changes to the rules governing the work of private notaries. Since June 2025, specialists whose workplaces are located in territories of possible or active hostilities have been allowed to change the address of their workplace within their region while retaining the notarial district specified in their registration certificate.
Thus, the formal increase in the number of notaries in frontline regions partly reflects not the emergence of new demand, but the adaptation of professional infrastructure to wartime conditions and the relocation of specialists.
The investment company S1 REIT has registered a new portfolio fund, S1 “Kyiv Income-Generating Real Estate” (S1 DNA), which will invest in income-generating residential real estate in the capital—including both existing properties and those currently under development.
The new fund’s offering size is 100 million UAH, the company announced on September 2, 2026.
The projected yield for S1 DNA is stated at 9% per annum in dollar terms, taking into account two components: current rental income and potential appreciation in property value.
The minimum initial investment will be 122,000 UAH, and subsequent investments can be made starting at 1,000 UAH. S1 REIT plans to begin the pre-sale of fund certificates in mid-September 2026.
The new fund’s strategy involves building a portfolio consisting of several properties. Initially, the portfolio will include apartments in the income-generating buildings S1 VDNG and S1 Obolon.
S1 VDNG is an existing rental property near the “Vystavkovyi Tsentr” metro station in Kyiv. Its apartments are leased out and generate a steady cash flow.
S1 Obolon is under construction at 18 Obolonskyi Avenue, near the “Minska” metro station. Upon completion, the apartments are also planned to be used as income-generating real estate. For investors, the asset during the construction phase is expected to offer, first and foremost, capitalization potential driven by appreciation in property value.
Thus, S1 DNA combines two sources of potential income: rental payments from apartments already in operation and an increase in the value of properties currently under development.
“By holding a stake in the fund, an investor becomes a co-owner of each individual apartment in two buildings at different addresses. The fund combines the present and the future: today it consists of apartments in two income-generating buildings, and in the future, the fund will be expanded with new properties,” said Igor Gifes, CEO of S1 REIT.
According to him, the transition from investing in a single building to a portfolio model should allow for the diversification of risks across several real estate properties.
The company attributes the decision to launch the new fund, in particular, to the completion of the placement of S1 VDNG fund certificates in early June 2026. Following the full placement of this fund, S1 REIT decided to offer investors a product whose assets will not be concentrated in a single building.
The S1 REIT portfolio also includes the S1 Obolon fund, with a projected annual yield of 10% in dollar terms, and the S1 Plaza Poznyaki commercial real estate fund, with a stated yield of 10.4%. The S1 VDNG fund, whose offering has already been completed, has a projected annual yield of 8.2%.
In June 2026, S1 REIT reported that the total assets under management of its funds had reached 100 million UAH.
S1 REIT works with income-generating residential and commercial real estate in Kyiv. The company’s business model is based on the acquisition of real estate by collective investment funds, its subsequent professional management, and the distribution of the resulting income among investment certificate holders. Projects are implemented in collaboration with the developer Standard One and the management company S1 Ukraine.
The stated fund returns are projected and calculated by the company based on a financial model that takes into account rental income, fund expenses, and the potential appreciation of its assets.
PJSC “Kyivmiskbud” Holding Company contributed 81,364,000 UAH to the state and local budgets between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2026, the company’s press service reported.
“Kyivmiskbud” once again demonstrates transparency and financial discipline. Even under challenging anti-crisis conditions, the company remains a conscientious taxpayer. We operate transparently, comply with legal requirements, and are systematically moving forward,” said Yuriy Tykhonovych, acting chairman of the holding company’s board of directors.
From July 8 to August 18, 2026, “Kyivmiskbud” underwent a scheduled on-site audit by the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service in Kyiv. The audit examined compliance with tax, foreign exchange, and other laws for the period from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2026, as well as the timeliness of payments of the unified social contribution (USC) from July 1, 2021, to March 31, 2026. A corresponding report was drawn up based on the results of the inspection.
During the specified period, “Kyivmiskbud” paid 81,364,000 UAH to the state and local budgets, of which land rent amounted to 28,086,000 UAH; Unified Social Contribution (USC) – 20,830,000 UAH; personal income tax (PIT) – 17,764,000 UAH; land tax – 6,143,000 UAH; real estate tax – 5,199,000 UAH; military levy – 3,304,000 UAH; income tax – 34,850 UAH.
At the same time, late payment of land rent for 2023 in the amount of 647,800 UAH was identified, the company’s losses for the reporting period were reduced, and additional income tax for the third quarter of 2023 in the amount of 1,833,000 UAH was assessed.
As previously reported, Kyivmiskbud’s balance sheet includes 24 construction sites where more than 120 residential buildings at various stages of completion have been erected. The total area of unfinished construction exceeds 548,000 square meters. The developer began restoration work in March 2026 at a number of sites. In July, the “Podol Grad” residential complex was commissioned. Five more projects are at an advanced stage of completion (the “Freedom” residential complex, the “Twin House” residential complex, the “Oberig-2” residential complex (Building 1), the “Rainbow” residential complex, and the “Gvardeysky” residential complex).
Active construction and installation work is underway at four additional sites.
Kyivmiskbud Holding Company was established in 1994 on the basis of the assets of the state-owned municipal construction corporation “Kyivmiskbud” by consolidating controlling stakes in 28 enterprises and other assets into its authorized capital. It comprises 40 joint-stock companies in which the company holds shares, as well as six subsidiaries and 51 companies with associate member status.
According to data from the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), the Kyiv City Council is the majority shareholder of Kyivmiskbud Holding Company PJSC.
SEPTEMBER FEST 2026, Ukraine’s largest urban festival dedicated to urban development, contemporary architecture, real estate development, design, culture, and the quality of urban life, will take place on September 18 in Kyiv at the A-STATION venue.
According to the event organizers, the festival will run from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Entry to the A-STATION grounds will be via the Mykilski Gates near the “Arsenalska” metro station.
SEPTEMBER FEST 2026 is expected to attract about 3,000 visitors and over 150 speakers. Invited participants include mayors of Ukrainian cities, chief architects, representatives of real estate development companies and investment funds, architectural firms, designers, government officials, international experts, and specialized media outlets.
The festival’s main themes will include the development of Ukrainian cities, modern approaches to architecture and urban planning, real estate development, investments in real estate and urban infrastructure, the design of public spaces, culture, and the creation of a comfortable urban environment.
The organizers position SEPTEMBER FEST as a professional platform for dialogue among representatives of government, business, and the architectural and real estate development communities, as well as for discussing the future of Ukrainian cities and projects for their revitalization and development.
Basic admission to the festival is free upon prior registration.
SEPTEMBER FEST 2026 is organized by DMNTR, with A Development serving as the general partner.
Open4business is the official media partner of SEPTEMBER FEST 2026.
ARCHITECTURE, DEVELOPMENT, DMNTR, FESTIVAL, KYIV, SEPTEMBER FEST 2026, urban planning
