The European Business Association

"The European Business Association" (EBA) is a Ukrainian not-for-profit association of businesses. Established in 1999 under the support of the European Commission TACIS project, now it operates as a full scale association. According to the official web site of the EBA now it lists 807 companies (March 2011).

Among the members of the EBA are companies of European and Ukrainian origin that operate in different industries. The member-companies represent such spheres like food manufacturing industry, HR agencies, travel and tourism, air carriers, fuel and energy, consumer electronics, agrochemicals, PR and marketing agencies, life insurance, legal and IT companies and other.

Mission and Vision

EBA Vision

To enable & drive full establishment of the European business practices and values in Ukraine.

EBA Mission

• Promote ethical and lawful business practices and standards in Ukraine;
• Facilitate communication between the business and political communities;
• Represent our members` interests in political circles to improve the business environment using the EBA’s expertise.

EBA History

The European Business Association (EBA) was established in 1999 as a forum for discussion and resolution of problems facing the private sector in Ukraine. This initiative of business people who saw advantages and benefits in the European business community acting together was supported by the European Commission.

The main activities of the EBA are

• lobbying;
• social networking;
• education;
• establishment of collaboration between member-companies and the authorities.

Lobbying

The EBA focuses the attention of its members through its system of Committee Meetings. Each Committee focuses on a specific industry or problem area, and they give our members the opportunity to discuss various professional issues. By participating in EBA Committees, members are able to work together to find common solutions to common problems and to present a unified response to the authorities. The EBA Committees provide a key lobbying tool that enables business men and women to establish a dialogue with Ukrainian authorities and to promote and protect industrial interests. During 2009 more that 100 speakers, representing a number of different authorities participated in the EBA Committee meetings and Working Groups and the EBA pursued more than 154 appeals. Approximately 67% of these were a success.

Within the EBA Committees members have the opportunity to share knowledge and update one another on best practices, newest industry trends, latest products and services and developments in their respective markets. As of February 2010 the following EBA Committees and Working Groups (WG) operate in Kyiv:

• Ad-Hoc Anti-Crisis Working Group
• Agrochemical
• Customs
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Diary
• Euro 2012 Task Force (WG)
• Kyiv City Task Force (WG)
• Food
• Fuel & Energy
• Health Care
• Human Resources
• Intellectual Property
• Legal
• Life Insurance
• Marketing
• Mineral Wool Insulation
• Public Relations
• Real Estate
• Regulatory Affairs
• Tax
• Travel & Tourism

During 2009 over 1800 experts participated in the work of the 17 Committees and Working Groups. 107 speakers from different authorities participated in EBA Committee meetings. 90% of EBA appeals were answered by the appropriate authorities.

In 2009 the EBA achieved 21 significant lobbying successes and progress was made in another 32 areas.

EBA Investment Attractiveness Index

EBA Investment Attractiveness Index - launched by EBA in September 2008 a unique brand-new project aiming to estimate Ukraine’s investment attractiveness.

Objective: to measure Ukraine’s investment climate and indicate its attractiveness for both new investors entering the Ukrainian market and those already operating here.

Subject of assessment: Ukraine’s investment climate assessed within a scope of political, economic, legislative, regulatory and other factors affecting businesses and defining risk levels and profitability of investment.

Methodology: the EBA Investment Attractiveness Index is calculated as a simple average assessment based on five aspects indicating the investment climate. Participants are requested to answer each question below choosing one of the proposed answers to be afterwards accumulated and analysed according to a five-grade system.

Participants: CEOs of the EBA member-companies representing both foreign and local investors.

Frequency: the poll is run every six months to enable us to study the EBA Index dynamics.

Target audience: once the EBA Index has been calculated, the poll outcome is presented to mass media, state authorities and business circles.

EBA Customs Index

The results of the EBA Customs Index are based on the expert poll conducted among the EBA Customs Committee members.

Methodology: The EBA Customs Index is the set of 4 indicators of customs procedures evaluations by the companies that interacted with the customs:

• Average number of days spent for customs clearance of one shipment;
• Rate of goods physical inspections (%);
• Total number of rejections to apply 1st customs valuation method (share of total customs declarations number, %);
• Average number of documents per one shipment.

On top of it customs procedure simplification dynamics is added as evaluated by the CEOs as a part of EBA Investment Attractiveness Index.

The results are presented by each of 4 indicators separately as:

• the average value for each indicator (mean) reflected in the charts and tables;
• the numeric value separating the higher half of a sample, from the lower half (median).

The results are also split by:

Company type: a) only import/export produced goods, b) companies that also have local production; c) companies that provide service and import/export for own needs.

Types of goods/services that company produces: a) consumer goods; b) industrial goods; c) services.

Survey Implementation: the Survey was conducted by EBA, analytical support provided by InMind research company.

Regional representatives