How long should a web site be 'Under Construction'?

How long should a web site be 'Under Construction'?

British - Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (BUCC) [page under construction]
www.bucc.com.ua
What a sad case. How bad. The site has been under construction since 2008.
Makes British business people look bad in Ukraine.
The BUCC needs to get a grip. I feel sorry for the members of this organisation

Special presentation about the Cayman Islands

British Overseas Territory

‘The Cayman Islands’

International Financial Centre

No Taxes

One of the largest financial centres in the world

The BBCU invites you to our Networking Meeting

Thursday 2 June 2011 at 1900

Speaker:

BBCU Member - B.P. Dan Martiuk

Western International Group

Belgravia Business Club

18/1g Proreznaya St, Kyiv

Please reserve your place by contacting the BBCU before 27 May 2011

Tel: +38044 235 72 23

Email: administrator@bbcu.com.ua

Priority will be given to members of the BBCU

We look forward to seeing you

Happy Victory Day

З Днем Перемоги

С Днем Победы

UkraineInvestment Summit - London

UKRAINIAN INVESTMENT SUMMIT TO BE HELD IN LONDON

Largest annual global investment conference for Ukraine, Mon-Wed, May 16-18, 2011

The 7th annual Adam Smith Ukrainian Investment Summit will take place on Monday to Wednesday, May 16-18th, 2011, in the Great Hall of the Chelsea Football Club in London. The Summit is the largest annual global investment conference for Ukraine.

The Adam Smith Ukrainian Investment Summit is the one and only original investment gathering on Ukraine, with a proven track record of welcoming hundreds of top executives from around the world. Therefore make sure that you are in the right place at the right time to join the Ukrainian and international business elite!

The new venue of the Great Hall of the Chelsea Football Club has caught the imagination of all and you can benefit from a Gala Evening and Awards Ceremony in the Club museum, wine-tasting from Artemovsk Winery and Kolonist, attendance of the last game of the season and accommodation in the deluxe onsite hotels.

SPEAKERS

DETAILS: Visit the Ukrainian Investment Summit website for details http://www.adamsmithconferences.com

This year’s speaker faculty is shaping up to be the most powerful yet, and here are just few highlights of who you will be able to meet and hear from at the largest investment gathering for Ukraine worldwide.

Iryna Akimova, First Deputy Head of Administration of the President of Ukraine

Anatoliy Maksiuta, First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine
Petro Poroshenko, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, National Bank of Ukraine
Oleksandr Ryabchenko, Head, State Property Fund of Ukraine
Dmytro Tevelev, Head, State Stock Market & Securities Commission of Ukraine

Yuri Kolobov, First Deputy Head of the National Bank of Ukraine

David Liddington, UK Minister of Europe, David Liddington, MP,

A host of leading business figures in the speaker faculty will address the Summit for the first time including:

Sergey Taruta, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Industrial Union of Donbass
Oleg Salmin, Chief Executive Officer, XXI Century
Philippe Margraff, Commercial Director, UEFA
Viktoriya Tigipko, Managing Director, TA Venture
Ruslan Demchak, Founder & Owner, Ukrainian Business Group

Didier Casimiro, President & CEO of TNK-BP Commerce

Igor Livant, Fund Manager, Alpcot Capital Management

Frederic Lucenet, Director, Manufacturing and Services, EBRD
Leonid Bogdanov, General Director of developer UDC Holding

Dominique Fache, Chairman of Enel-OGK-5

TOP BUSINESS EXECUTIVES WILL ATTEND

They will be joined by top executives of such leading and most dynamic companies: System Capital Management, Lubel Coal Company, Donetsk Steel, Vanco Prikerchenska, Nestlé, Dyckerhoff Ukraine, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Ukrainian Independent TV Corporation, Kraft Foods, Rosinka, State Enterprise for the Financing of Infrastructure Projects, Sagro, Group DF, FIM Group, SOLID Group, Sintal Agriculture and many others.

Amongst the confirmed key financial institutions and funds are senior executives of: Alfa Bank Ukraine, Credit Agricole CIB, Morgan Stanley, First Ukrainian International Bank, Verno Capital, International Monetary Fund, Royal Bank of Scotland, Abris Capital Partners, ADM Capital Europe

The 60+ speaker faculty will take part in a program that features more interactive sessions than ever to maximize your benefit, including an International Economist panel, Tax Code debate, the ever-popular Institutional Investors session and discussions on the Investment Climate.

Firtash buys control of Nadra Bank

Never a dull moment in Ukraine.

Dmitry Firtash, the Ukrainian billionaire, has paid over $400m for a controlling 90 per cent stake in Nadra, one of Ukraine’s most troubled banks.

Brave man. He certainly enjoys a challenge.
Maybe he is returning a few favours?

What would YOU do with $400m?

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/05/04/ukraines-firtash-adds-to-his-empire/

Bureaucracy kills the customer.

In developing economies there are many similarities. Particularly in the service sector.
I spend time between Ukraine and Sri Lanka do to business.
The service sector 'practices' in both of these countries are similar.
Take for example the simple processes in a restaurant.

On too many occasions in both countries I see situations where customers get so angry due to the bureaucracy of the so called systems they operate.
I think it all stems from a culture of mistrust.

For example, you are in a restaurant and maybe there are only four or five customers.
At the end of the meal, the customer requests the bill. A normal process in developed countries where the bill will be provided to you within seconds/minutes. The waiter/waitress takes the cash or payment method and the whole process is completed within a few minutes.

NOT in developing countries. It will take maybe 10-15 minutes to prepare the bill.
Then they eventually provide the bill.
The customer offers payment and usually offers more than the required amount, expecting change to be given and only then will they think about a tip.

Unfortunately, this is where the lack of trust comes in to play.
The person who takes your money is not allowed to be involved in the process.
The bill together with payment must be taken to another party who proceed to check the accuracy of the bill and correct payment. Then after they have 'signed off' the transaction, another person will become involved in the issue of any change or confirmation of payment.
Eventually the 'change' may be sent to your table approx 15-20 mins later.

During this whole process the average customer will be totally frustrated as to WHY everything takes so long.

Its obvious that the process is far more important than the customer.
On far too many occasions I have seen restaurant customers HAPPY that they have enjoyed a great meal and even some good service, BUT the whole bill/payment/change procedure is the KILLER for most restaurants and the good experience turns into a nightmare for the customer.

STOP KILLING THE CUSTOMER.

Corruption in Ukraine

Much has been written about the problems of corruption and the attempts to reduce corruption in Ukraine. Most people would agree that Ukraine is a very corrupt country. Public 'servants' almost everywhere will refuse to do anything unless they are provided with a financial inducements.

We all hear many stories of how public officials ranging from traffic police through to high ranking presidential officials will not do anything for you unless you offer certain sums in cash.
It is a way of life in Ukraine.

My personal experience is different in that I have NEVER paid a bribe in my life. I have been here since 2002. During this time I have experienced many situations where I was 'prompted' to offer a 'financial reward' to someone. But I have always resisted. Even when some of my expat British friends have said 'Oh just pay them it will be easier'. I have always stood my ground and refused to pay any bribes to traffic cops or government officials.

Do not misunderstand me. I have been stopped by traffic police many times and on some occasions I was speeding and guilty and I then asked for the correct 'protocol' to be followed.
No surprise that nothing happened and I have never received any notifications via the postal service. I doubt that the traffic police even bothered to submit any official reports even though I was clearly guilty of speeding. The reason being is that I clearly refused to pay any cash sums to people on the spot. On one occasion I was traveling with a car full of Ukrainians and they started to protest when I refused to pay any cash bribes to the police. For them it was not a problem, and they just could not see why anyone would refuse to pay as it made things easier.

THAT is exactly my point about corruption in Ukraine. Too many people are quick to pay whatever is needed to get the job done. They fail to see that while they continue to pay, the system will continue...on and on and on it will go.

For too many Ukrainian people corruption offers and facilitates an 'easy way out' of most situations. Why get complicated when we can just give this man or woman some money and all problems will disappear. Sad situation really.

I am sure that many people have paid bribes on my behalf without my knowledge.
During the past few years I have paid lawyers fees on many occasions which I am sure involved the payment of bribes on my behalf. (obviously this is all prior to the introduction of the recent UK Bribery Act coming into force).

Refusing to pay bribes has only cost me TIME. From the lowly traffic policemen who will keep me waiting for 15-20 minutes and then eventually lets me go, because he realises that I am not going to pay and he is wasting his time. Through to the employee at the National Bank of Ukraine who demanded 2 percent of the transaction value for agreeing to the granting of a license to obtain a loan from a foreign bank. Only to understand that I was NOT going to pay, but it cost me two months in delay and I'm sure complications made because I was not paying any bribes.

You can refuse to pay bribes in Ukraine and you will survive. Things will just take much longer.
The government claim to be doing something:
see: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/opinion/op_ed/detail/103190/