We share the key themes and points that were raised during the interviews. The full interview is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33MG1ezn2Vo

• On the location of Swiss production in Ukraine

Swiss companies see economic feasibility in partially or fully locating their production cycles in Ukraine. On the one hand, they receive the appropriate qualifications of employees and works, and on the other hand, they get a lower final cost of their own product.

• On the relations between European companies and China

Over the past 20 years, China has attracted many European industries and, as a result, technologies. It has gone from producing primitive copies of high-tech products to a full-fledged innovation economy, and Chinese companies have become competitors of their yesterday’s customers and partners. Given the growing logistical challenges and ongoing scandals over technological espionage, many European companies and governments have begun to work actively to relocate from China to a closer and more familiar Eastern Europe.

• On Ukraine’s competition with Eastern European countries

Currently, Ukraine is in an unofficial competitive “relocation tender” between Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and other Eastern European countries, which, on the one hand, have highly qualified personnel, and on the other hand, can do as well as China. And, of course, they are cheaper production sites than Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France.

The EBA’s task is to help Ukraine win this “tender”.

• On the safety of doing business in Ukraine

All organizational structures for safe cooperation between Swiss and Ukrainian businesses are in place. There is the Embassy of Ukraine in Switzerland, which can raise questions at the highest level about the problems of a Swiss company in Ukraine. There is the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, which very carefully protects all Swiss entrepreneurs and investors who are here. There is the government office of UkraineInvest and their “investnians”. We have our Association, which protects the interests of small and medium-sized businesses.

What is the characteristic of Swiss business? They work only in a “white” way. They only enter legal schemes. When a company in Ukraine operates legally, in a “white” way, pays officially 100% of its salary (and this is the principled position of every Swiss), I do not see any particular risks for the Swiss in terms of problems with tax or law enforcement agencies.

• On the evolution of the IT sector and the 2nd USBAIT–Bridge

Of course, the No. 1 boom is the IT sector. It is growing all over the world. It is growing all over the world. The Association is now working to change the format of IT cooperation between our countries. In the past, IT cooperation looked like this: a foreign company was looking for individual programmers in Ukraine who worked as individual entrepreneurs.

As of today, Ukraine has evolved. Ukraine’s IT sector is very well formed. And we are now promoting in Switzerland the idea of cooperation between Ukrainian IT companies that produce a final or intermediate IT product and supply it to Swiss companies for implementation in their operations.

This is already business cooperation, when the Ukrainian IT sector produces a final product, program or service and receives a fair price for it. It pays taxes here and pays salaries here in Ukraine. In return, the Swiss company receives a quality product at a lower price than if it were developed in Switzerland.

We are currently working on organizing the 2nd Ukrainian-Swiss IT-Bridge in Switzerland in November, where we will bring Ukrainian IT companies to present themselves and their products to Swiss end customers.

• On the prospects for cooperation

The Ukrainian market is becoming more interesting. As an Association, today, compared to 2020, we have about 200% more requests from Swiss small and medium-sized enterprises to establish contacts or find partners in Ukraine.

We are currently working on more than 10 specific business projects that are expected to take place by the end of the year or early next year in the form of registration of companies with foreign investments in Ukraine or signing of contracts between a Ukrainian manufacturer and a Swiss buyer.

The Association’s goal for the next 5 years is to increase the turnover of goods and services between Ukraine and Switzerland in the SME sector by 10 times.