The second Business Integrity Week was held in Kyiv and Lviv
The second Business Integrity Week was held in Kyiv and Lviv
On 20-24 May 2019, the Ukrainian Network of Integrity and Compliance (the UNIC) with the support of the Business Ombudsman Council (the BOC), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OECD) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD) held the annual Business Integrity Week (the BIW) in Kyiv with the concluding event in Lviv. The BIW has been attended by 200 participants and 50 speakers, including leading experts in compliance, business owners and legal counsels, diplomatic missions and representatives of the government bodies in Ukraine.
The Day 1 of the BIW “Developing National Business Integrity Agenda” held with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was devoted to the successes and challenges in establishing dialogue between business, government and other parties in order to strengthen the culture of integrity and improve the investment climate in Ukraine. Some successes in improving conditions for doing business in transparent and responsible way in Ukraine were observed during the monitoring of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan. At the same time, according to panelists, development of a joint roadmap or a national policy in the area of promoting the culture of business integrity could consolidate many successful initiatives around the common goal, strengthen and replicate them within the country, and could help all stakeholders work more systematically in this field.
As a next step, UNIC has proposed to become a platform for the development of such a joint national action plan. Representatives of the OECD, the BOC, and other participants of the first day of the BIW have already expressed their readiness to support the initiative. The speakers of the first day: The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the BOC, the OECD, The Cabinet of the Ministers of Ukraine, Organic Systems, BRDO, Transparency International Ukraine, MEDT Reform Support Team, the State Property Fund of Ukraine, NPC Ukrenergo, Illyashev and Partners law firm.
The second day was organized in partnership with CAPS Business School and was dedicated to compliance trainings. During the event the participants had a chance to find out about the rules of cooperation with counter-parties, how to develop Corporate Social Responsibility policy and about its benefits, as well as about the antimonopoly compliance for employees. The visitors of the second day also joined the interview session on career in compliance. Expert experience and best practices were shared with the participants by the UNIC member representatives: Siemens Ukraine, Anheuser-Busch InBev Efes Ukraine, Kyivstar, METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine and Sandoz Ukraine.
The third day, held in co-organization with Kyiv Post, was focused on CEO Debates. The partners of the event: U.S.-Ukraine Business Council and Kinstellar law firm. We would like to thank Sanofi Ukraine, iC consulenten Ukraine, Beetroot, P&G Ukraine, Nestle Ukraine, NPC Ukrenergo, Ukrainian Railways JSC, Boryspil State Enterprise, Oshchadbank PJSC and Kinstellar for the interesting and informative discussion on how to be successful and ethical at the same time doing business in Ukraine, as well as on local state enterprise compliance practices.
The Day 4 of the BIW on Financial Sector as a Driver of Positive Transformation in Compliance was organized in partnership with the CFA Society Ukraine and gathered representatives of financial and banking institutions to discuss how the role of the regulator can positively impact the promotion and implementation of business integrity, as well as client reputation. The participants of the day also found out about the new instruments and technologies in counterparties’ due diligence. Among the speakers: CFA Society Ukraine, USAID Ukraine, ING Bank Ukraine, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, TASCOMBANK, Deloitte Ukraine, SWIFT, PRAVEX Bank, YouControl, Comply Advantage, FUIB, Arzinger law firm, SEB Corporate Bank, and COSA.
The conclusion of the BIW was held in Lviv with the joint initiative of UNIC and ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Ukraine. The topic of the day was Compliance and Anti-Corruption in Ukraine. The key issues discussed by speakers of the event were development of business opportunities for and integrity of SMEs on the regional level. Experience and ideas in this area were shared by the representatives of ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Ukraine, United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine, Advice Group, the BOC and ELEKS.
“My pleasure to know that each year new partners interested in promoting the idea of doing business transparently join the Business Integrity Week. It is important to note that the participants of the ethics discussions start including not only private companies, but also state enterprises and CEOs. We are looking forward to new acquaintances and partner initiatives in the framework of the fruitful Agenda of the Regional Seminars of the BIW to be held in July-August 2019. This year, UNIC broadens the geography of those interested in the development of integrity practices and plans its visits to new cities.” – Ganna Gerasymchuk, Head of the UNIC Secretariat.
Additional information:
The Ukrainian Network of Integrity and Compliance (UNIC) is an initiative for businesses that want to work transparently. The purpose of UNIC is to promote the idea of doing business ethically and responsibly. UNIC members committed themselves to supporting a good business reputation and constantly improving their integrity standards in accordance with the best international practices. UNIC was launched by the Business Ombudsman Council with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on 19 May 2017. On 9 October 2017, UNIC held the Founding Meeting and on 30 May 2018, the First Annual Meeting of UNIC Members was held. As of May 2019, UNIC comprises of 54 companies with 102 500 employees operating in 53 cities all over Ukraine.
In May 2018, the Ukrainian Network of Integrity and Compliance together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine launched a series of annual events in the framework of the BIW to engage business community, state authorities, civil society, business associations, educational institutions and media to promote business integrity in Ukraine.
