Ukraine’s Quest for Mature Nation Statehood RT IV: Ukraine’s Transition to a Developed Market Economy saw the introduction of a new ingredient to the proceedings – a series of business-to-business networking sessions that ran parallel to the traditional symposium. The participants were so taken by the idea that the organizers were advised to turn the B2B gatherings into a unified stand-alone event.
The advice was taken and, in the immediate term, resulted in a highly successful US-UA Business Networking Forum (held March 2005 in New York City using four venues: the Ukrainian Institute of America/NYU/Columbia University and the Union League Club).
In the longer term, the episode saw the launching of a specialized US-Ukrainian business/investment conference series:
- US-UA Business Networking Forum [I]
- Ukraine Business/Investment Forum
- Ukraine-North America Investment Forum
- Ukraine Business and Investment Forum: Euro 2012
- US-UA BNS Forum V: US-Ukrainian Business & Investment Colloquium
- US-UA BNS Forum VI: A UEAF “fusion” symposium
- US-UA BNS Forum VII: International Investment Forum and Road Show
- US-UA BNS Forum VIII: Taking Measure of Ukraine’s Challenges and Opportunities in 2015
- US-UA BNS Forum IX: Leading An Economic Recovery in Ukraine By Putting One’s Best Foot Forward: Promoting Four Key Areas of Enterprise
- US-UA BNS Forum X: A UA-US WG Summit “fusion” gathering
- US-UA BNS Forum XI: “Let the Reconstruction Process Begin – But What, How, Who, When, Where”
During its short tenure, the US-Ukrainian Business Networking Forum Series has hosted an authoritative set of high-level officials and corporate leaders from both Ukraine and the United States:
Ukrainian government leaders who have participated as major speakers include Prime Ministers Viktor Yuri Yekhanurov and Viktor Yanukovych; Ukrainian Industry Minister Volodymyr Shandra; Ukrainian Minister of Justice Roman Zwarych; Ukrainian Economy Ministers Volodymyr Makukha, Bohdan Danylyshyn and Petro Poroshenko; Energy Ministers Ivan Plachkov and Yuri Boyko, and head of the Joint Stock Company the State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine Viktor Kapustin; Ambassadors Oleh Shamshur, Oleksandr Mostyk and Yuri Sergeyev.
US government leaders who have participated as major speakers include: Assistant Trade Representative Catherine Novelli, Assistant Secretary for Commerce Al Frink, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Nancy Lee, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matt Bryza, Ambassador John Herbst, Representatives Sander Levin and Curt Weldon
Among the major US & international companies that have participated in past conferences are CEOs and senior executives from: JP Morgan, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Julius Baer, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Firebird Management, American Century Funds, UBS Securities, Fidelity Investments, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Wolfensohn and Company, Lazard Kaplan International, US Export Import Bank, NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange, ENI, Royal Dutch Shell, Halliburton, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Chadbourne and Parke, Goldman Sachs International, Microsoft, Intel, Ernst and Young, Northland Power, PBN Company, Delta Airlines, Johnson and Johnson, Kraft Foods, Phillip Morris, Boeing/Sea Launch, Motorola, Calyon Bank, PERN, Vanco Energy, Westinghouse, Alliance Technology Group, Salans Partners, Pfizer, Hitachi America.
Among the major Ukraine based and Ukraine-focused companies, banks, and funds, the following have taken part: Dragon Capital , Horizon, UkrTelekom, Ukraine Export-Import Bank, Concorde Capital, Millennium Capital, Industrial Union of the Donbas, Sigma-Bleyzer, System Capital Management, D-Tek, Naftohaz Ukraine, UkrTransNafta, UkrNafta, Renaissance Capital, XXI Century, SoftServe Ukraine, Shevchenko-Didkovsky Partners, Farmak, Stirol, Pivdenmash, AeroSvit, Antonov, Kvazar Micro, and Gregory Arber.
