news - Dutch success stories in Ukraine

Many Dutch entrepreneurs have already done business in the Ukraine. Others are interested but do not know how to start or await a right business opportunity. On the 19th of March, the Netherlands-Ukrainian Council for Trade Promotion (NOCH) offered an opportunity to Dutch companies to enter the Ukrainian market or to expand their activities there, by organizing a seminar at the Dutch Development Bank FMO in The Hague. During this seminar, Dutch entrepreneurs have shared their experiences, know-how and the do’s and don’ts on doing business in Ukraine.

Moderator of the day Mr. Ton van der Velden, director at Tebodin, shared his experiences on how Tebodin became successful in Ukraine. The engineering company is active in Ukraine for already twenty years and strongly believes that with qualified and trained local management and staff a Dutch company can become a main player in the Ukrainian market. This vision was agreed upon by Dutch farmer Kees Huizinga. Ten years ago, Mr. Huizinga started his agricultural activities on 1,000 hectares of land in a village between Kiev and Odessa. Over the years, the Kishchentsy farm has turned from a Soviet Kolkhoz into a large farm covering 15,000 hectares on the fertile black soil of Ukraine.

Kishchentsy employs many local people from the region and produces grains, sugar beet, corn, rape seed and soya beans for the Ukrainian market and for export. Moreover, 350 milk cows with young cattle and 400 sows with meat pigs add up to their business. Kischentsy Farms is also active in local construction projects which directly support the local communities. The mission of Kishchentsy is to become the best farm by respecting natural resources and making profit at the same time. Kishchentsy is therefore investing in the local economy, nature and by training local employees. FMO has invested in Kishchentsy in order to make the necessary investments and eventually develop to 25,000 hectares. However, Huizinga realizes that the company should not grow too fast and that one first needs to work more efficiently, intensely and precisely. Mr.Huizinga stateshat Kischentsy is perceived as a reliable and trustworthy company but realizes that he will always remain a guest in Ukraine. But then Kischentsy at least makes sure that the company acts in a guest-like manner by speaking the Ukrainian language, respecting the culture and living up to the entrepreneurial responsibilities as well.

Nico Pijl, Chief Risk & Finance Officer at FMO

Nico Pijl, Chief Risk & Finance Officer at FMO, explained that FMO invested in a company such as Kishchentsy Farm out of its Fund Emerging Markets (FOM). Through this fund, FMO stimulates Dutch enterprises to invest in emerging markets and developing countries. FOM financed several projects in the agro and food processing sector in Ukraine.  FOM projects to increase its’ investments in Dutch companies in Ukraine in the present and upcoming years.

During the seminar, Senior Vice President M&A, Tibor Leeuwenburgh of AEGON Group Business Development, shared his experiences on the recent acquisition of Fidem Life by AEGON. Fidem Life is the fifth largest life insurance company in Ukraine, which is meant to further strengthen AEGON’s position on the Central and Eastern European market. AEGON has been active in the region since 1992 and currently has operations in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Turkey. Ukraine offers a company like AEGON an attractive long-term growth opportunity due to an Ukrainian market of 45 million inhabitants with an upcoming middle class and a GDP and penetration of life insurance in the country which is expected to double by 2015. Due to the strong, Western-style leadership team of Fidem Life chaired by a Dutch CEO and a robust operating process, a stable and promising platform was found by AEGON in Fidem Life. Personally, Leeuwenburgh was positively impressed by the high female participation in the Ukrainian workforce and the pragmatic approach towards reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.

After the interesting presentations, more than 60 entrepreneurs shared their experiences on doing business in Ukraine during the network reception offered by FMO.

Interested in becoming a member of the Netherlands-Ukrainian Council for Trade Promotion (NOCH) and start doing business in Ukraine?

Please contact Ms. Marieke van der Wilk, Area Manager Central and Eastern Europe via e-mail mvanderwilk@nchnl.nl or directly by phone +31 (0)70 3441554.

Contact for FMO/FOM-finance in Ukraine: Mr. Paul Wolff, via e-mailp.wolff@fmo.nl or directly by phone +31 (0)70 3149555