HOW DOES WAR TRANSFORM BUSINESS RELATIONS WITH THE GOVERMENT AND INVESTORS?
We got a real chance to change! Entrepreneurs who have transformed their business at least once, aligning it with the standards of external creditors, investors, or due to other circumstances, will understand me.
Most often, we don't dare to make significant changes when everything in life is good: work is normal, there's enough money - let it continue that way. An external push is needed: motivation, necessity, crisis.
War is a megacrisis. Despite all the horrors happening, it can become a megastimulus for qualitative changes on several levels.
On the state level
At the end of June 2022, the European Parliament supported granting Ukraine candidate status in the EU. Now our country needs to fulfill seven extremely important conditions, which I won't repeat as they have been extensively covered. I'll only mention that fulfilling each of the listed conditions is a qualitative, revolutionary leap forward for the country, society, and business.
Regardless of the social media debates about whether our advanced country should have presented a list of requirements to the EU, we need to face the truth. We have been repeatedly pointed to the root of all our troubles, which we experience with enviable regularity, and the external aggressor has no relation to them. Specifically, corruption and an imperfect judicial system distort the essence of the social contract and the rules for building and functioning business in the country.
Delicious coffee and convenient Ukrainian online banking, which we are proud of, are excellent. But under the superstructure, there is a foundation that needs to be fixed. Nothing new: yes, the process has sped up, but the requirements remain the same.
The main rule works: before stepping onto someone else's field, where it's clean and nice, sweep your track, mow the lawn. Respond. Otherwise, you don't fit in.
If, finally, we integrate into the European community (and delight it with our delicious coffee and online banking), the very essence of the relationship among government and people, business, will change beyond recognition.
Because what is the state? First and foremost, it's the people who live in it, choose deputies, and, accordingly, should communicate with them, ask questions. For a long time, this connection has been disrupted here. We considered the authorities a separate state, and they considered us a separate state. No one has ever been accountable to the people, and that's fundamentally wrong.
Let's say I have a street in my city, and it's constantly dirty, with cracked asphalt and open manholes. Meanwhile, there's a deputy for whom I once voted in my district. What should I do? Find his phone number, call, and say, "Ivan Ivanovich, what's going on?" And bother him to the point where he can't sleep until he properly does his job.
If every resident «will bother» their deputies, the latter will be concerned not about how to solve their personal issues but how to be effective in their positions. The resolution of those same "personal issues" ultimately leads to corruption, and the lack of fear of an unsatisfied voter leads to an inadequate judicial system.
The war has accelerated the process. I must admit that, at the local government level, the attitude toward business is changing rapidly. In a few months of war, I was invited to participate in 10 different conferences, including those focused on the recovery of our city, Chernihiv. "We can't propose a concept for the city's recovery! You, as local residents and entrepreneurs, imagine what needs to be done and give us your vision," voiced the local authorities. "Great! This is how it should be," I thought.
The rhetoric of the authorities is now undergoing significant changes: they are turning to business with a welcoming and appreciative face. I should note that in this case, I am referring to businesses not associated with the state budget or resources; that's a different story. For us, simple entrepreneurs, it's essential not to miss this moment, to learn how to communicate by the new rules. More precisely, to create them. I've been in business all my life, but we haven't had civilized rules of communication and interaction with the authorities until now.
For effective communication with the authorities, some system of joint decision-making, feedback, and adjustment of government decisions by the business side is also needed. Not everything happens at once: starting from the local government level, gradually, we can reach the highest level. Ukraine's fulfillment of EU conditions will significantly accelerate this qualitative transformation.
On the business level
Recently, I spoke at a business community meeting in Kyiv. The audience was interested in my thoughts on the potential future influx of foreign investments into the country, particularly into Ukrainian businesses.
In my 30 years in business, I have never seen someone sitting comfortably on a couch while a suitcase full of money is brought to them, saying, "Here, take it, no need to repay."
We have an illusory idealistic perception of investments, as if it's a tap that you approach, and money is poured for you. To receive funds, even if you're in a victim position, receiving sympathy and aid, you need to put in effort. Yes, investments are likely to come, and there is much talk about it today. But how many Ukrainian companies are genuinely prepared for these investments?
I remember the journey of Pet Technologies to participate in the EBRD financing program. It took us five years of real preparation. We were even provided with professional consultants who helped us build the right company structure, streamline business processes, and organize reporting. At that time, my company was far from a small-town office; it was a serious enterprise with civilized rules and work standards.
Ask any Ukrainian business owner: what strength, money, and effort did it cost them to prepare for working with investors? This process quickly removes rose-colored glasses, as if saying, "I have such a cool and successful business that everyone needs." However, upon inspection, it turns out that there is chaos in the asset structure, hundreds of individual entrepreneurs, no profit on paper, only debts. Even the most sympathetic investors will look at you in amazement, no matter how much you boast about how well your business is doing, how profitable it is, and that you fly to the Maldives twice a year.
I have no doubt that after our victory, external investments will come to Ukraine. But to access them and take advantage of this opportunity, you will need to work diligently on your business. And it only benefits from it. I remember that I joined the EBRD not so much for the money as for internal transformations.
On a personal level
Finally, the most challenging and profound changes are happening on a personal level. The awareness that you can lose everything built over many years in an instant sharpens the sense of attachment to your creation, to your hometown, and to the country where you managed to create it.
So, there is a sincere desire to help, participate, support, establish constructive dialogue with the authorities, play on the same team with them, and, of course, play by the rules.
Internal transformation is probably a topic for a separate column. But it is about the same thing: the desire to become better oneself against the backdrop of a major crisis – the harshest reason to sweep your tracks
