Transformational changes for Ukrainian business: practical aspects

Global and local developments force Ukrainian business to change. Some Ukrainian companies have already embarked on the road of transformational changes in order to remain competitive in foreign markets. At the beginning of an informal discussion Andriy Bulakh, Managing Partner at Deloitte Ukraine stated that Deloitte is also committed to supporting this trend. “We are actively working on business transformation aspects as they are very important for Ukraine,” said Andriy Bulakh.

The topic of business transformation was continued by the team of Nataliya Ulyanova, Tax & Legal Partner. Experts from Tax & Legal department gathered representatives of Ukrainian business to discuss important changes.

“Complex Transformation team of Deloitte Ukraine took the liberty of becoming a trusted advisor to guide companies on their way to growth,” said Nataliya Ulyanova at the start of the panel.

The event included the theoretical and practical sessions.To make the discussion more focused, Kateryna Grabovyk, Senior Manager of Complex Business Transformation shared with the audience her insights on certain global trends. According to the results of an online survey held during the event, the participants consider global factor as the main transformation driver.

At the same time, changes to legislation was the least selected factor. However paradoxical it may seem, the global trends will have a meaningful impact on Ukrainian business provided that all requirements of the respective legal documents are met. Kateryna Grabovyk also stated that the Law “On Currency and Currency Operations”, which was recently signed by the President of Ukraine, requires the government and the National Bank of Ukraine to develop other draft laws by January 2019 to implement the respective changes.

At the end of the theoretical part, Nataliya Kronik, Tax & Legal Manager, emphasized that business transformation entails its transparency. “If business aspires after respectability, investors will be ready to finance projects, and audit firms will be ready to work with such companies.”

This fact was also supported by success stories of Ukrainian business, which were shared by Yuriy Kurmaz, Director at PJSC Ukrtelecom and Pavlo Ryzhyi, Innovation Manager at PrJSC Philip Morris Ukraine.

For example, at the end of 2013 Ukrtelecom's losses amounted to approximately UAH 1,5 billion. After three years of transformational processes, the company's profit reached UAH 2,2 billion. Yuriy Kurmaz commented on the above figures by saying, “The example of Ukrtelecom can be used as a guideline to understand how transformation can take place in the national privatized operator.” He named the development of communication technology as the driver of changes.

According to Pavlo Ryzhyi, the speed of technology changes triggered the transformation of Philip Morris Ukraine. “Today it is important to be more flexible, dynamic and proactive, as well as to consider an option of creating own transformation drivers,” said Innovation Manager of the company, which introduced a non-standard solution for Ukrainian tobacco industry.

The hands-on experience of Ukrainian companies shows that making changes is always a complicated process, but in the end, it brings a positive result not only for the company, but also for the development of Ukrainian business as a whole.

Deloitte provides a wide range of business transformation services for Ukrainian companies. Complex Business Transformation practice is designed to facilitate the coordination of focused, single-step actions directed toward business as a system.