How to preserve unity and build a strong sovereign state?

Held by Deloitte in Kyiv on 27 September 2023, The VIII Conductors of Changes Forum brought together business leaders, statespersons, and public opinion leaders for a topic discussion «Unity today. Unity tomorrow?»

«Today’s full-scale war is a huge upheaval that has affected everyone and struck all areas of our lives. We have united against a common threat. But is our unity really strong?» asked Sergiy Kulyk, Managing Partner at Deloitte Ukraine, opening the Forum.

As a moderator, Sergiy Kulyk brought up a difficult question for discussion with the participation of Volodymyr Borodiansky, Co-founder of The Organization of Ukrainian Producers, Minister of Culture of Ukraine (2019-2020), Olesya Ostrovska-Lyuta, Director General of Mystetskyi Arsenal, Anton Drobovych, Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Volodymyr Lavrenchuk, Regional Director at NEQSOL Holding Ukraine. Together they tried to answer the question: Are we united against or are we united for?

Reflecting on what unites the Ukrainians, Olesya Ostrovska-Lyuta concludes that it is similar experience. She explained, «Our collective trauma is the basis for our unity, because it provides a common experience and a common symbolic field.»

«Solidarity, justice, and freedom are the three global ideas around which we should build our unity, even unanimity. As for the rest, there is no need to fetishize unity. The Ukrainians have always been individualists, and this is what we value. In extreme cases, however, we unite to defend things that matter to us,» said Anton Drobovych.

«I wish this Forum would sow the thoughts that would give rise to actions. Our defenders serving in the Armed Forces expect us to build a different state while they are fighting at the front line. Think about what you can do in your business, how you will foster a culture in your company, in your environment, and how you will communicate your ideas to the general public and develop among them a solid foundation for the sustainable solidarity of Ukrainian society,» Serhiy Kulyk summed up the discussion.

During the next panel discussion moderated by Roman Bondar, CEO of Korn Ferry Ukraine, the speakers—Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Volodymyr Popereshnyuk, Co-owner of Nova Poshta, Oleksandr Korniyenko, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and Yuriy Sorochinskiy, CEO of Nemiroff—reflected on what Ukraine’s state structure should be like in the future.

The discussion centered around the question «What value should the state create for you?» The audience put security, protection, freedom, justice, and development in the first place.

Volodymyr Popereshnyuk said, “Today, when we say “the state” we mean taxation, control, inspections. At the same time, the state is expected to be our partner in defense and should focus on defense. In today’s context, security is most sought after. For this purpose, the defense industry should be deregulated by allowing entrepreneurs to produce and buy weapons.” Yuri Sorochynskyi agreed with the need to prioritize security:

«The state we have now is about control. What we would like to have is security of life, business, investment, ownership.»

Recognizing the value of the state, Olha Stefanishyna added:

«Our political system is built on personalities, political parties, positions. However, a politician is not a superstatus but a function. The state should perform a service function and not interfere with people’s lives.»

When asked about risks that could slow down our country’s progressive development, Volodymyr Popereshnyuk mentioned the tightening of regulation in the first place. «If the state continues to strengthen regulation, we will remain dependent on other countries, which will impede our defense capability,» he commented.

How to win the war of cultures and what the strength of our nation is—these questions were explored by Andriy Rizol, Board Chairman of the «Watch Ukrainian» Association, Ivan Lenyo, Kozak System frontman, and Pavlo Haidai, Entrepreneur, founder of Mizhvukhamy Fund during the panel discussion moderated by Andriy Bulakh, Deputy CEO at MHP.

«Is it just the matter of territories that has brought the invaders to our lands? Is everything we are fighting for measured in square kilometers? This is a real war of cultures that has been lasting for centuries,» said Andriy Bulakh to start the discussion.

Ivan Lenyo emphasized the importance of cultural development especially these days and noted that our main task is to fence off everything imperial with a reinforced concrete fence. Pavlo Haidai noted that we need to build our full-fledged sovereignty, «A truly sovereign state shapes its own future and ways to build this future. Can we do it on our own? We lost the war of cultures when we failed to become a political actor, remained dependent and grew weak. But we are fighting for it now, we are on our way.»

Andriy Rizol defined today’s war as a war of technology and spirit. «And we tend to leave the spirit out of sight,» he added.

How can Ukrainian business help in the war of cultures? According to Lenyo, it is important to donate and use management resources to enable the Armed Forces of Ukraine to increase their effectiveness.

«I want everyone to realize how unique the present moment is. We can not only witness, but also play a part in our victory. Those bravehearts in pixel camouflage are not alone in forging our victory. Every Ukrainian is forging it. And if, in that valiant struggle, every Ukrainian feels like they belong, that will make a big difference,» added the speaker.

The economic strategy that would embraces the interests of all key stakeholders—the state, business, and society—was discussed by Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Serhii Kovalenko, CEO of YASNO, Yevhen Liashchenko, Chairman of the Board of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), and Tomas Fiala, CEO of Dragon Capital. The discussion was moderated by Yegor Grygorenko, Partner, Head of Consulting and Risk Advisory at Deloitte Ukraine.

«The recovery strategy being mentioned is not our ultimate goal. It is not enough just to restore what we had before 2014. We need a strategy for a fast-paced development. We should join EU as a truly sovereign state, feeling equal with other European countries, for example, Poland. This is a great ambition of our society. Is such a strategy possible?», Yegor Grygorenko started the discussion with this question.

«There is a unique opportunity for business to promptly get on board with the processes that exist in politics, in state formation. This is a historical moment. I am convinced that our strength lies in our unity, so I suggest that business actively participates in the development of the economic strategy,» Yulia Svyrydenko stressed out.

«Our chances are very high, because we really have no other choice. While EU has a choice of either taking us on board or not, Russia has a choice of either withdrawing its troops or continuing the war, Ukraine has no other choice but to survive and rebuild the economy. Because if we survive but fail to rebuild the economy, Ukraine will be no more,» noted Tymofiy Mylovanov.

Traditionally, the Conductors of Changes Forum has a social component. This year, the event collected and transferred UAH 500,000 to the Children of Heroes Charity Fund, which takes care of children who have lost one or both parents to the war. Deloitte’s corporate responsibility and sustainable development strategy embraces support to educational projects as a priority area. Deloitte is taking action through WorldClass, a societal-impact initiative, to empower 100 million futures by 2030 by improving education outcomes, developing job skills, and providing access to opportunities.