NUCC is excited to welcome a new member and the establishment of a new online media platform providing news about Ukraine tailored to a Scandinavian audience. Below you can read one of the main initiative-takers behind the platform, Ukrainian Honorary Consular to Denmark, Morten Munk’s thoughts and aspirations for the new platform.

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No man is an island and no business is run in a vacuum. That eternal truth is often forgotten in the day-to-day operations of a company.

Even if the election of Donald Trump as American president had not opened our eyes to financial implications of events far away from our markets, the COVID-pandemic has shown us all the truth of it.

That is why it is increasingly important for business to keep informed of events that may positively or adversely affect market conditions.

While many international media focus on the increasing conflict between China and the western markets, few focus on Ukraine. This is particularly true for Scandinavian media.

The knowledge gap on a country of 40+ million European people with high skill levels and low hourly labor costs could result in a loss of competitive advantages. When your competitor realizes the time window, supply chain and recruitment advantages of moving production to Ukraine, but you still have the long vulnerable supply chain to China, you may be holding a losing hand.

The fact that Ukraine is now emerging as a retail and consumer market as well as a production destination, makes it even more important for Scandinavian businesses to understand Ukraine.

That is why we founded Ukrainenu.com. Based on an idea by the Ukrainian Honorary Consular to Denmark, Morten Munk, since 2019 we have built a not-for-profit online news site dedicated to bringing balanced news of relevance to Scandinavian businesses. All of our revenue goes to providing more and more comprehensive insights for our readers.

While we set out focusing on the Danish market, through interviews and talks with Scandinavian colleagues – including the Norwegian Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce – we realized that the same knowledge gap is true for the Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish markets as well.

You can of course stay up-to-date through the English speaking Ukrainian news outlets but until now, no one brings you the context for Scandinavian businesses. How does a specific event affect the competitive situation in Scandinavia? What are the challenges and potentials of Ukraine specifically related to the Scandinavian business model and culture? What are the experiences of Scandinavian businesses already in Ukraine, and what can you learn from them?

This is the knowledge gap that Ukrainenu.com tries to remedy, and to increase accessibility for the rest of Scandinavia, we have switched our editorial language to English. We were already interviewing companies from all over Scandinavia, as the markets are so similar that the companies from Scandinavia face many of the same challenges.

We look forward to having you on board.

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