The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs funds an educational program for entrepreneurs with the aim of improving the economic relationship between Norway and Ukraine.
Called Young Entrepreneurs, the program run by the Norwegian-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, or NUCC, brings together ambitious Norwegians and Ukrainians to work together.
The program has been selecting 20 businesspeople every year since 2014 to spend one week in Norway and one in Ukraine. They listen to lectures and network, with the goal of providing early-stage entrepreneurs with guidance. The participants also visit Norwegian and Ukrainian businesses, meet with government officials and nonprofit orgnizations. Topics include business ethics, finance, corporate governance, investment and tackling corruption.
The participants worth with university professors and mentors on business case studies.
Program co-founder Volodymyr Vargola thinks the program offers “a very dynamic curriculum from the learning point of view. It is hard to overestimate the value of the Young Entrepreneurs program,” Vargola told the Kyiv Post. “What’s for sure is that this program targets the best people in their industries and future leaders who are building strong connections between the two countries.”
But much more needs to be done to make Ukraine known to more Norwegians, said Young Entreprenuers 2018 project manager Anatolii Kyryliuk. The interest in the program is also higher in Ukraine, with many more applications from Ukrainians. Norwegians also have a wider variety of study options.
“It’s difficult to convince the Norwegians that it’s fine to work with Ukraine because the media there cover Ukraine as a corrupt place with conflict going on,” Kyryliuk said, referring to Russia’ war in eastern Ukraine.
Kyryliuk reaches agreements with universities in Ukrainian and Norwegian cities to hold meetings and set up lectures. But he says that only 25 percent of the time is devoted to studying, with the rest taken up by networking and meetings.
NUCC managing director Kjartan Pedersen considers the Young Entrepreneurs program one of NUCC’s “most important initiatives on which we spend a lot of resources. There is tremendous talent in these young forward-leaning individuals we bring together, something that makes me excited about the future.”
