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On October 13, the S&P Investment Risk Management Agency office hosted another closed meeting of diplomatic representatives from the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine and executives of the largest Swiss companies operating in the country.
As part of the Swiss Business Meeting, business leaders discussed the specifics of doing business in Ukraine, investment protection, Swiss values of reliability, and their potential application in Ukraine.
Opening the meeting, the Ambassador of Switzerland to Ukraine, Mr. Guillaume Scheurer, emphasized the importance of creating such platforms for the Swiss business community to discuss cases and practical aspects of operating in Ukraine. He highlighted a successful example of collaboration between a local investment risk assessment company, the Business Ombudsman’s Office, and the Swiss Embassy in protecting the interests of a foreign investor in a conflict with the state. This referred to a recent case involving the Swiss company Risoil.
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The Business Ombudsman of Ukraine, Algirdas Šemeta, was also present at the meeting. He spoke about the UNIC (Ukrainian Network of Integrity and Compliance) initiative, which was launched in May of this year.
This initiative is aimed at companies that operate based on transparency, honesty, and openness, thereby promoting the development of responsible business practices in Ukraine.
Natalia Osadcha, co-founder of S&P Investment Risk Management Agency, addressed Swiss business leaders, explaining the reasons behind conflicts with the state, how to identify them, approach conflict resolution correctly, and ultimately emerge victorious. She also shared strategies for minimizing risks when doing business in Ukraine.
In particular, Natalia Osadcha highlighted key mistakes entrepreneurs make when facing a conflict situation, which could lead to the loss of assets and business:
- Failure to implement preventive measures
- Management errors, which cause conflicts in 80% of cases
- Ignoring the conflict
- Misidentification of the conflict situation
- Incorrect risk assessment and the wrong choice of tools (PR, government relations, crisis communication, legal strategy, business protection, etc.)
S&P Investment Risk Management Agency expresses gratitude to the Ambassador of Switzerland to Ukraine, Mr. Guillaume Scheurer, for facilitating the organization of this exclusive meeting. We also thank the owners and CEOs of Swiss companies operating in Ukraine for sharing their real-life experiences of doing business in the country “without censorship.”
