Ukraine's ambassador addresses Northern Virginia Technology Council (02/16/03)

Ukraine's ambassador addresses Northern Virginia Technology Council

by Luba Cehelska

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Ambassador Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Ukraine's envoy to the United States, appeared as guest speaker at a meeting of the International Committee of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), discussing Information Technology opportunities with Ukraine.

This annual program and holiday social event of the NVTC International Committee always includes a brief meeting, guest speakers and an opportunity for members to network while enjoying holiday goodies. On this occasion there were two sponsors for the event: the Embassy of Ukraine, which contributed varenyky, holubtsi, and Ukrainian horilka and champagne, and SoftServe, a custom software development firm based in Lviv, Ukraine.

The event, held on December 17, 2002, was of special significance because of the prominence of the NVTC and its president, Bobbie Kilberg, in the information technology community, and also because of the strong participation of Michael Considine, Ukraine Country Desk manager at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Northern Virginia Technology Council is the membership association for the area's technology community, with more than 1,600 member-companies representing over 180,000 employees from all sectors of the technology industry. Ms. Kilberg, NVTC president since 1998, served President George Bush in the White House as deputy assistant to the president for public liaison from 1989 to 1992. In December 2001 President George W. Bush appointed her to serve as a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

Appearing on the program prior to Ambassador Gryshchenko was Mr. Considine, business trade specialist for Ukraine at the U.S. Department of Commerce/BISNIS, who spoke about the current business climate in Ukraine. He indicated that, despite unfavorable press regarding Ukraine's political climate, the Ukrainian economy is growing and improving. For example, real wages for Ukrainian citizens are up; consumer spending power is up; there are positive growth trends, for example, in retail; and progress has been made from a legislative standpoint, including improvements in tax and customs legislation. Mr. Considine also pointed to positive trends on the part of U.S. companies in their interest in Ukraine.

Ms. Kilberg then introduced Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, citing his impressive background and experience. Ambassador Gryshchenko presented solid information about continually improving economic indicators in Ukraine. Focusing on the high-tech industry, he said that the hi-tech field in Ukraine includes space and aircraft design and production, shipbuilding, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, information technology and telecommunications, as well as the design of new materials, welding technologies and super-hard tools.

Important growth in Ukraine includes telecommunications revenues, Microsoft sales, desktop and server sales, and highly developed Internet banking systems sales. The internal software market has demonstrated steady growth and is projected to make even steeper climbs in the next two to three years, he said. Ambassador Gryshchenko indicated that, according to the Intel Corp., Ukraine is the fastest growing market in the world for Intel products, exceeding even Russia.

Software development outsourced to Ukraine has gone from $32 million in 2000 to $47 million in 2002. Ukraine has immense intellectual potential based on its 98 percent literacy rate, plus the fact that 87 percent of high school graduates go on to higher education and 37 percent of those in higher education select information technology as their focus.

Other salient data include: 400 universities are educating 1.5 million students; 180,000 specialists in the research and development sector work in 1,500 R&D institutions; there are 23,000 certified information technology specialists in Ukraine - a significantly higher per capita certification rate than in India.

In addition, 2 million Internet users in Ukraine provide a significant business opportunity. The Hughes Network and PARADYNE Networks provide established satellite communications for direct Internet access and DSL. Ukraine is home to 1,400 software development companies, 260 Internet providers, and 490 PC manufacturing companies. American companies are pleased to outsource software development to Ukraine and to receive low-cost high-quality service, Ambassador Gryshchenko stated.

Major recent technological achievements include the Antonov Design Bureau's new AN-70 aircraft and Sea Launch, the U.S.-Ukraine-Russia-Norway consortium.

Following Ambassador Gryshchenko's talk, Luba Cehelska provided information about SoftServe (www.SoftServecom.com), which was mentioned by Ambassador Gryshchenko. Ms. Cehelska, account executive for Softserve, talked about the firm, its nine-year history, its capabilities and its clients. She has been active in the NVTC International Committee, held the chairmanship of the European/NIS Subcommittee, and organized a very successful NVTC symposium on the subject of software outsourcing.

About 100 attendees were present at the event - an important step in familiarizing the U.S. information technology community with the amazing IT talent available in Ukraine. In addition to NVTC members, attendees included guests, among them U.S.-Ukraine Foundation President Nadia McConnell; Vera Andrushkiw and Chrystia Sonevytsky, also of the USUF, and Ihor Kotlarchuk, president of The Washington Group, an organization of Ukrainian American professionals.

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