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Meetings

• Make appointments well in advance and arrive punctually. Confirm and reconfirm scheduled meetings to avoid them being cancelled on short notice.
• Arrive on time to show your professionalism. However, be aware that the approach to time-keeping is more fluid.
• If you arrive late, a short apology is welcomed. However, a large public apology may be seen as unnecessary.
• If you are meeting someone senior, you may be kept waiting. It is not uncommon for people in higher positions to give an appearance of importance by seeming busy.
• Many Ukrainians prefer to maintain a serious disposition in professional settings (see Non-Verbal Communication). They may feel adding humour or anecdotes could undermine their expertise. However, adding a joke or two of your own can put them at ease.
• Business is relationship-oriented in Ukraine. Therefore, meetings and negotiations may take more time as your counterparts try to learn about you and ascertain your integrity (see Relationships).
• It is important to be patient and give people time to open up. Ukrainians will generally feel more comfortable speaking directly and discussing more serious business matters once they have built familiarity and a base level of trust.
• Expect the most senior people present to direct the meeting. Subordinates usually play a supporting role and spend most of their time listening unless they are assigned a certain role in the negotiation or presentation.
• There may be multiple interruptions to the flow of the meeting as people follow different tangents and discussions.
• Interruptions are well tolerated. Due to the relationship-oriented nature of business (see Relationships below), anyone entering a meeting unexpectedly or calling by phone is given attention. It is not a sign of disrespect to accept the interruption.
• Be aware that Ukrainians can talk for a long time about something that can be expressed concisely. It is worthwhile specifying what kind of information you want to receive from a meeting, proposal or presentation. Without this clarification from the outset, a Ukrainian may give a lengthy presentation with more detail than you need or expect.
• If you are presenting to meeting attendees, consider preparing visual examples (e.g. graphs, maps, diagrams) in slides or handouts—Ukrainians like to see visual aids of what is being discussed.
• Open proposals by providing people with an understanding of the long-term goals or larger aim of the project, before getting into the details of a proposition or contract.
• Expect meetings with large audiences to have a lot of discussion. It can be useful to break attendees into smaller groups to discuss and brainstorm their questions and invite them to summarise their thoughts on what they've heard from you so far.
• Be aware that promises made during meetings to deliver something (outside of contracts) do not always materialise into actionable items. It is always important to write a follow-up with communication that recaps and reminds them of your expectations and any verbal agreements made.
• It is common to be invited to dinner after a day of meetings or negotiations. It’s important to accept this invitation regardless of how long or tiring of a day it has been. See Relationships.

Negotiations

• Ukrainians may feel uncomfortable discussing finances or negotiating prices. It is usually the last topic to be addressed or raised.
• Ukrainians tend to adopt a non-confrontational, indirect approach. As a result, they may avoid giving a straightforward ‘no’ and agree to ideas they are not necessarily interested in to avoid upsetting the person. It is important to read between the lines and ask follow-up questions to discern true thoughts and opinions. See Communication for more information.
• Pay attention to subtle cues in your counterpart's reaction to financial negotiations. Silence or absence of excitement might be a sign that the price is too high, but they are not comfortable mentioning it.
• It is best to avoid hard negotiation tactics that focus on figures and price explicitly. Instead, it can be useful to suggest changes to other aspects of operations and implementation that would affect costs. For example, “What do you think we could change in the implementation approach to decrease the price by 20%?”.
• Remember that flexibility and willingness to compromise can be perceived as a sign of weakness. Avoid giving early compromises as this can lead them to provide minimal or no concessions.
• Be aware that a long, detailed discussion does not necessarily result in a final decision.
• You are unlikely to receive conclusive answers on the spot, even if the key decision-maker is involved in the negotiation. They may need time to consult their team and the advice of experts.
• The introduction of new ideas or sudden changes to the plan can cause discomfort. It may put people in an awkward position, as they cannot always commit before seeking approval from higher up.

Relationships

Personal relationships are crucial to business in Ukraine. Ukrainians prefer to work with those whom they know and have emotional trust in. For example, a manager may hire someone they have known longer over someone with similar or equal qualifications. The personal impression can have a huge impact on the decisions made and may even override business objectives. For example, if you have a great offer for them, but they don’t like your attitude, they may pass on the offer.

It is often easier to establish relationships through third-party introductions, especially by someone who they respect and look up to. It is also favoured that people meet face-to-face as often as possible to deepen the personal relationship between partners. Avoid changing the person representing your company, as it may prompt your Ukrainian business partner to restart the relationship-building process again.

Expect to be treated with formality at the beginning of a business relationship. Ukrainians tend to assess authenticity and trust based on personal character. They are often quite focused on understanding your personal ambitions and goals rather than your commercial objectives. Once familiarity has been established, communication usually becomes more neutral or informal. Therefore, it is important to put yourself forward as an honest, trustworthy person to build a relationship.

Business relationships and friendships often extend outside of the workplace. Whilst Ukrainians tend to maintain formalities in professional environments, they are often quite open to discussing highly personal issues outside of these settings. A Ukrainian will most likely be eager to get to know you and, therefore, may ask many questions about your family and personal life. Sometimes, these can come across as too direct and overly personal, but it is generally not intended that way. It is not uncommon for Ukrainians to lean on their colleagues for moral support outside of the workplace. Showing care and concern for the person is likely to help deepen the business relationship. Ukrainians are known to be fiercely loyal and dedicated to those they have a strong relationship with.

Hierarchies and Management Styles

• Ukrainian culture has a high power distance, meaning there is a broad acceptance of power hierarchies in the workplace and respect for the status of superiors.
• The role of leadership is to decide and enforce compliance. A manager is expected to be a visionary leader who can illustrate clear future plans, delegate through a top-down approach and provide clear mandates for any task.
• Ukrainians tend to be most comfortable when given clear, set expectations about their position within the organisational hierarchy and where their job role and responsibilities do or do not intersect with that of management.
• If a leader forgets about tasks they assigned or fails to show how the projects contribute to the bigger purpose, employees can feel discouraged from taking further initiatives or committing to future tasks.
• There is often a clear delineation between the relationships with a superior vs. colleagues. For example, if someone is friends with their superior outside of the workplace, they maintain formality while at work.
• Managers’ and employees’ behaviour reflect and represent the status roles in all areas of business interactions (e.g. visits, negotiations or cooperation). Lower-level employees do not directly challenge seniors in team meetings.
• Due to the respect Ukrainians have for hierarchies and power distance in the workplace, Ukrainians may not ask questions when they do not understand something. Therefore, it is important to encourage people to provide input and ask questions. Put tasks in writing, check understanding, and follow up to make sure that your requests have been fulfilled.
• Some people may not ask for clarifications or double-check their understanding to avoid being perceived as incompetent. This can result in a team performing tasks without full comprehension of what is needed. Provide clear instructions for tasks from the outset and follow up with questions to ensure all relevant people are aware of what is needed.
• Once a task has commenced, provide a team with the chance to discuss any issues or mistakes at the initial stages of the project. Bringing attention to the problem early allows the opportunity for corrective action and avoids future questioning and blaming after completion.

Considerations

• Ukrainians are adept, experienced and creative problem-solvers. Many possess an everyday ingenuity derived from tackling the challenges that everyday life throws at them and finding solutions where resources are limited. Mentoring them about your business structure and organisational methods can bring these positive and productive behaviours into the workplace.
• Avoid presenting instructions or advice as orders. Ukrainians can be resistant to blunt direction. Instead, explain why something needs to be performed before asking a person to do it.
• Ukrainians can be quite ashamed of errors and how they may reflect on their professional capabilities. Mistakes or challenges should be discussed as a team matter without blaming an individual explicitly.
• Feedback is taken personally, and criticism often leads to a loss of face. If you have caused an offence in front of a group of other people, the best way out will be a sincere apology in front of the same group.
• Ukrainians are generally more receptive to criticism when it is delivered in a way that validates the person’s expertise and input. It is best to present the problem and solution in a collaborative way that gives the employee a sense of agency over the decision. Encourage employees to provide input on solutions to any problems raised. This participative discussion allows them to feel more ownership over the agreed course of action and, hence, more motivation to implement it.
• Directly pointing out the problem and giving blatant instructions on how to fix it may result in a lack of responsibility and learning, as well as less enthusiasm to implement the suggested change. Instead, guide an employee to come up with the course of action themselves and explain how their suggestions have been incorporated to show their contribution is meaningful.
• Do not expect every completed task or business achievement to be recognised or praised. Some Ukrainians become uncomfortable when singled out with public praise. It is best to praise team effort publicly and acknowledge a person’s individual achievements in a one-on-one setting.
• Ukrainians prefer to handle workplace issues and conflicts in private. They are usually kept within a small group or department.
• If someone wishes to raise an issue, they often prefer to write a private email with an indirect message or have a private conversation with the manager.
• Some people may not raise an issue at all if they see a possibility that the situation will somehow resolve itself.
• There may be a hidden or unaddressed conflict if uncomfortable facts, bad news and negative feedback are presented as neutral and normal.
• It has been observed that Ukrainian managers are often protective of their teams/employees under their responsibility. It is common for them to advocate for their subordinates' working conditions or pay and avoid delegating them unnecessary tasks. As a result, they may sometimes be reluctant to collaborate with others (e.g. combining or splitting tasks with another team) to avoid disrupting their team’s internal culture.
• Bargaining is common in Ukrainian culture, whether buying everyday goods or negotiating a business deal.
• The 2023 Corruption Perception Index ranked Ukraine 104th out of 180 countries, receiving a score of 36 (on a scale from 0 to 100).¹ This suggests that the country’s public sector is somewhat corrupt. Similarly, the 2016 Global Corruption Barometer estimated that 23% of public service users paid a bribe in the past 12 months.¹