Ukraine

Grayling Ukraine started operations, initially focused on FDI and infrastructure projects, in 2002; and established its current eight-strong Kyiv office in 2005. We are a government relations and public relations consultancy, and are one of very few advisers in the market that can seamlessly integrate and execute both strands with equal confidence.

The Ukrainian public policy environment is one of the most complicated and finely nuanced in the world. It shares some operational similarities to working in Russia, but it has not experienced Russia’s regulatory modernisation. Ukrainian politics is complex and fiercely-fought and sometimes Western firms unintentionally find themselves a pawn in local political battles. Grayling has a track record of giving Fortune 500 firms, at global HQ level, as well as locally, confidential advice as to how to navigate its choppy waters (which blocks are pro-Russia; anti-EU; ethnic Ukrainian nationalist: even when it is appropriate to write the capital city as Kyiv rather than Kiev!). This goes significantly deeper than ‘before Orange Revolution’ and ‘after’ and Grayling offers genuine expertise in the Public Affairs arena; not least as we have a reputation for being politically-neutral as well as politically-engaged.

Ukraine has a vibrant media environment, but ‘pay-for-play’ can be a serious issue: Grayling has a well-established reputation for not buying editorial and we are still successful in gaining media coverage for clients. We have also helped some of Ukraine’s largest financial-industrial players in coordinating their global communications, hubbed from Kyiv, and do this using our global network.

We have an Investor Relations practice that has helped Ukrainian companies in their IPO communications and in their post-float investor relations locally in Ukraine and, with our international offices.

Our Kyiv office provides strategic communication consultancy, from media relations and high-level public affairs to government relations and complex stakeholder mapping; advising both foreign multi-nationals looking to enter the Ukrainian market and those already established and looking to maintain, enhance or reposition themselves in Ukraine. We have assisted companies both in terms of stakeholder mapping and political/reputational due-diligence (for market entry); and crisis management (especially where western firms have faced inappropriate ‘administrative blackmail’ situations).

Grayling Ukraine has particular strength and experience working for clients in the sectors of technology and telecoms, finance and healthcare and pharmaceuticals. We are also one of few consultancies helping clients to understand, monitor and execute communications campaigns in the areas of new and social media, still at an embryonic stage in Ukraine but becoming more important as companies see its value as a powerful mass communications tool and as a way to directly engage with key audiences.

Our Kyiv team provides services to multinational clients both locally in Ukraine but also, as part of the global Grayling network, pan-regionally via our multi-country network, where international clients benefit from seamless, central programme co-ordination, consistency of implementation and more effective and cost-effective use of pooled resources and skills.

As well as retained strategic advisory clients we also work with a local event management specialist to handle major public relations events for a range of western multi-nationals from across all industry sectors.

Practice Areas

  • Public Relations
  • Public Affairs
  • Healthcare Comms
  • Investor Relations
  • Events

24 - Hour Crisis Contact

Gerhard Symons
Tel: + 380 50 443 5222 (English, Russian)
Email: gerhard.symons@grayling.com

Oleksandr Sakharenko
Tel: +380 50 357 56 47 (Ukrainian, Russian, English, Polish and German)
Email: oleksandr.sakharenko@grayling.com

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