A meeting with Ukrainian businessmen – Yuriy Shatynsky and Ihor Haras – was held at Ukrainian World on the 21st April. Yuriy and Ihor are the owners of the Chumak Company which is a leading Ukrainian manufacturer of premium quality furniture. They also own a chain of several dozen grocery retailers in the Lviv district. Over 300 people currently work for their businesses. During the Revolution of Dignity, they actively supported the protesters on Maidan, from the very outset. They were not an exception but are they amongst the beneficiaries of the transformations?
Yuriy are Ihor currently on a study visit to Poland, organised by the Open Dialogue Foundation. The visit was organised because we realise that Ukraine will not get out of the crisis and become a stable state until Ukrainian business integrates itself into the European market.
Conducting business in Ukraine is not easy. Corruption, dilapidated infrastructure and overwhelming bureaucracy are only some of the problems. How can businesses cope with such conditions? What has realistically changed following Maidan? How distressing is the loss of eastern markets? What are the prospects for cooperation with Europe? What support do Ukrainian entrepreneurs need today? What opportunities do exports to the EU offer to Ukraine? Are they planning to expand to the Polish market? Our guests attempted to answer these and other questions.
