When the communist economy system collapsed in Ukraine 30 years ago, many Ukrainian private companies were born, which began to operate in the new free market, but without that network of public relations and political representation for entrepreneurs that we usually find in Western countries.
The first entities of this type were the chambers of commerce, which offer services to associated companies. But a few years ago, in 2017, Board was born, a different form of association, because it is neither a chamber of commerce nor a business association, as we know them in the West.
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“In fact, it’s a union of entrepreneurs, people, not companies. This is a difference with other business clubs,” says Andrii Dligach, Professor of International Economics and Marketing at Taras Shevchenko University in Kyiv and strategist. He is a founder of the Board business community, together with Petro Sinegub and Iryna Beryushcheva. “Our key idea was to unite business to be prepared for future changes and global transformation, like a war or an economic crisis.”
It sounds like a prophecy, considering that Ukraine suffered the Covid-19 epidemic and today is dealing with a full-scale invasion. In any case, among Dligach’s titles of there is also “futurologist.” At the base of his idea for a community of entrepreneurs there is the sense of mutual support.
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“We saw that the state will not help yourself,” he says. “The only one way we can survive in this transformation period is to be united. And this is how the business community started, not like a classical club, but as an ecosystem with a digital platform, with a format of a partnership, to unite Ukrainian entrepreneurs whenever they are around the world.”
Today, Board has more than 2,200 members and is present in 11 countries, almost 40 cities.
“Our mission was to educate Ukrainian entrepreneurs how to realize partnership not only in business, but also in different kinds of projects, in volunteers’ projects,” he adds.
A business association is also a cultural challenge for a post-Soviet country, where for decades Marxist principles considered any private initiative a crime.
The main purpose of the organization is on the mutual help among people that have to manage a business. How this is concretely achieved is explained by Lana Saroyan and Yelena Pidopryhora (Lana and Lena), leaders of the Odesa chapter of Board, which was started more than five years ago:
“Board helps you to solve a problem when you don’t know how to do it. You ask a question during a meeting and 20 heads try to help you, sharing their own experience. Our joke is that if you became a member of Board, you don’t use Google because you can find in Board all the contacts that you need, and they are real proofed contacts.”
Their Odesa chapter has reached more than 100 members, 40% of them women. Only one chapter per city is allowed in Board.
A business association is also a cultural challenge for a post-Soviet country, where for decades Marxist principles considered any private initiative a crime. Therefore, even the definition of what business is and what proper behavior for an entrepreneur is can be controversial.
Dligach explains it very openly: “Business in Ukraine is mostly divided into two groups. One group is taking part in corruption schemes. It is represented in general by ex-prosecutors, not by real entrepreneurs. This business is still on the schemes of earning on state budget or local budget etc. But modern Ukrainian business, IT business, startup business, led by responsible people is trying to find a way to partially replace the state where it is not so efficient.”
Yet considering this problem, how does one tell a real entrepreneur from a bad one, when you have a candidate? This is how by Lana and Lena answer: “First of all, we have a guest format with two hours of communication, which shows if someone shares our win-win value. And then we invite him to meetings where we have to solve some cases. If he doesn’t contribute, we do not invite him into the community anymore. Secondly, we have an ethical committee.”
In Western countries, federations of industrialists or clubs of entrepreneurs establish a dialogue with their governments, and officials in turn ask them for advice when they make laws regarding the economy or some industrial sectors. This makes associations of entrepreneurs an influencer on economic policies.
Andrii Dligach is frequently invited to meetings with ministers, but explains: “It was not a task for the Board when we started. And even now our position is that Board should be in business, not in politics. But then, we decided to join a coalition with the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and other business clubs for the modernization of Ukraine, and now we are lobbying for small and medium enterprises and we made a strategy with the Ministry of Economy on taxation reform, custom reform, and reform of system of justice in Ukraine.”
Listening to the description of Board one can also feel the commitment to supporting the country, which is unusual for business associations elsewhere. It is reasonable Ukraine since it is a young country and Ukrainian entrepreneurs feel that responsibility.
“We are supporting humanitarian projects like children care and we are also working on some cultural projects,” Dligach adds. “We are trying to support talented art students with special grants. I mean musicians or painters, etc. It’s also our responsibility.”
Another example, in Odesa Lana and Lena collected Hr.1,000,000 ($24,000) for Superhumans Center, a charity foundation that will create a new rehabilitation hospital for veterans in the city.
This is another encouraging example of how a new generation of Ukrainian entrepreneurs is working for the future of their country.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.