Last week eight Norwegian companies visited Ukraine with the purpose of exploring the opportunities in the Ukrainian IT sector and experiencing the Lviv IT Arena, one of Eastern Europe’s largest IT-conferences. The trip started in Kyiv, where participants had a chance to visit the Norwegian Embassy in Ukraine. Fredrik Arthur, Counselor at the Embassy in Kyiv, talked about the Ukrainian economy, politics, and Norwegian-Ukrainian relations. He also mentioned the opportunities for Norwegian companies not just in the IT-sector, but also in energy, agriculture, and light manufacturing.

Day two of the program started with an introduction to the IT-sector in Ukraine made by Yaroslav Kytovoy, Head of PR at the IT-Ukraine Association. The program in Kyiv ended with a networking meeting with Ukrainian IT-companies at iHUB and a short city sightseeing before the group took a train to the beautiful city of Lviv.

The third day of the program started with a short introduction to Lviv and the status of the IT sector in the city. Then representatives from the consulting firm  Advice Group, Oleg Kyryievskyi and Yuriy Repeta, advised our participants about what they are should be aware of when they do business with a Ukrainian partner from the legal perspective.

Zoriana Drapaylo and Halyna Shporlyuk from Conscensia made a gripping presentation for our group about cultural aspects and why cultural intelligence is crucial to success in a diverse environment.

After the theoretical part of the program, participants had B2B meetings with relevant Ukrainian IT-companies at Lviv Business School. Each Norwegian company had several B2B meetings. This was a great chance to meet and talk to the companies in person.

The grand opening ceremony of IT Arena 2018 was a fantastic start on day four at the program. At the event you could meet speakers from all over the world, company and startups stands, as well as join the fabulous afterparties.

The participants were also invited to Lviv City Council where they had a meeting with Marta Romaniak, Head of the IT- Department of the City Council, and Roman Staretskyi, Acting Head of the Investment and Projects Office, where they got some insight into the projects which the City Council is working on and the investment opportunities in Lviv.

During the program, the group also visited iHUB in Lviv. Maksym Lysak, who is one of the initiators of iHUB, showed the participants around the facilities which are used by startups.

NUCC would like to thank you all the speakers, Jørund Rytman, Public Affairs Director at Bedriftsforbundet, and give a special thanks to iHUB, Advice Group, and Lviv Business School, for hosting the group.

The trip was organized in collaboration with Bedriftsforbunet (Norwegian Association for Small & Medium Enterprises) and ICT-Norway.

 

 Nataliya Sjøvoll, Project Manager