In a bid to strengthen trade ties and help drive Ukraine’s economic recovery, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has signed a landmark agreement with the Ukrainian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The new agreement aims to build the economic relationships that will help London and the UK play a major role in driving the eventual and all-important reconstruction of Ukraine.
Igor Bartkiv, the London Chamber’s Ukraine Project Support Officer was part of a delegation that travelled to Ukraine in January as part of the setting up of the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between LCCI and the Ukrainian Chambers of Commerce. The agreement states that both Chambers will establish a joint business council as a tool to engender bilateral business activities and support for the benefit of both the countries.
Igor, who was accompanied by Richard Burge, the Chief Executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Andrew Marsden, Sheri of the City of London; and Tom Sleigh, Chairman of the Barbican Centre, tells the story of how he came to be in London and part of LCCI’s team forging the agreement with Ukraine.
I started my professional life in retail banking in Ukraine in 2005, working my way up from an office clerk to regional sales director. I moved from banking to the hospitality sector in which I worked as chief operating and finance officer for one of our biggest hotel chains at a time when Ukraine was preparing to co-host the UEFA Euro 2012 football tournament.
In 2015, in what could be described as ‘professional suicide’ I decided to join a poorly performing Chamber of Commerce – Ivano-Frankivsk in Western Ukraine. The Chamber’s activities were a mystery to me back then but with the help of colleagues at home and abroad and by learning from the experience of others, by 2016 we had made our regional chamber one of the best in the country.
With the support of a UN Development Programme-backed project in 2020, my team started to develop a new Chamber strategy – but our plans collapsed with the full-scale invasion in 2022. I will never forget that night of February 24 when a friend woke me up with the terrifying news. I was on the way to Miami, Florida, to participate in a trade show with Chamber members and we had made a short stop in London.
The next day we headed back home and in just three days we had established a humanitarian hub at the Chamber at which we gathered volunteers of various backgrounds to save our homeland. At its peak, we handled several 20-ton trucks of aid per day and forwarded them to the places most in need.
In parallel with this, there was an understanding that adults can survive for a long time in such conditions, but we have no right to take away our children’s future. Even before the announcement of the Homes for Ukraine programme, a friend from Suffolk offered to host our eldest son and three of his friends – all had UK visas and could travel immediately.
In May 2022, our family of five could reunite in the charming town of Bury St. Edmunds. Eventually, my wife decided to continue working for one of the international humanitarian organisations and returned to Ukraine. So I faced another challenge – taking care of six boys aged six to 16 for the next four months.
In July, after a tough interview I was offered the position of Ukrainian project support officer at LCCI, responsible for ensuring that refugees from Ukraine gain support and assistance to find work or set up new businesses in the UK.
This involves liaising with businesses, partnering NGOs and public agencies in the UK, and engaging with international organisations and Ukrainian refugees to ensure that full support is provided within the framework set by the LCCI.
I’m working closely with our stakeholders and managing engagement with project stakeholders across local authorities and central government to establish strong working relationships.
For example, I participated in a Wilton Park event entitled ‘The role of the private sector in Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction’. We are also offering LCCI membership to Ukrainaian companies who want to do business in London and the UK; and for high quality assistance to Ukrainian refugees we have joined forces with specialised NGOs such as Breaking Barriers, Tern and the Refugee Investment Network.
‘The future started yesterday, and we’re already late,’ said American singer John Legend. The future still seems uncertain for my nation but I am confident that if everyone does their part of the mission, we will build a better and safer world for our children to live in.
This article first appeared in London Business Matters, the magazine of the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Find out more at www.londonchamber.co.uk
