Global challenges require joint responses, so the business community of Dnipro has united to address the region's most pressing issues. Mykola Demchenko, founder of the law firm "Pravoe Delo" and a graduate of the Presidents' MBA kmbs, spoke about the initiatives they are implementing as part of the kmbs ALUMNI stories project.

Information in times of crisis

Quarantine began for me on March 14. After returning from abroad, I stayed home for two weeks and moved the company's work online as much as possible. Since business trips and travels were canceled, and some projects were halted, I had a lot of time for new initiatives.

I probably immediately realized how serious the situation was approaching us. And I began to convey this awareness in all contexts: family, business, the kmbs alumni association, and my surroundings.

One of the problems we all faced was the oversaturation of information about the coronavirus. So the first thing I did was to start carefully analyzing all the available news and facts, both global and Ukrainian, together with another kmbs graduate, Dmytro Ievlev. Later, we decided to publish the results of our reflections externally - through a Telegram channel, we would inform graduates and other businessmen about what is happening in the world. We would publish verified data, consulting company reports - things that could be useful to entrepreneurs. I think we will involve other graduates to jointly search for new business niches.

The Dnipro context

I have been trying for quite some time to unite several local business communities for a common goal, and I want to invest my efforts in this direction. Therefore, some time ago, I integrated into six main business communities in Dnipro and started bringing them interesting cases that show what can be done by uniting. For example, Yuriy Filyuk, co-founder of the urban project "Teple Misto," and later - Mark Zarkhin, co-owner of Lviv's Kumpel Group. We even managed to gather communities for a strategic session conducted by kmbs lecturer Valeriy Pekar and come up with ideas for the first joint initiatives. But the global context changed.

Thus, we entered quarantine with a certain foundation for unification. We had created a group for communication among these communities. There were also separate groups in each community. In one of the clubs ("Inspira"), we quickly held an online meeting with about two dozen businessmen (representatives of "ATB," "Biosphere," various factories, and other companies) and identified the main threats we face. The first of them is the low level of hospital provision and the safety of doctors. We decided to create our own fund to accumulate money and direct it to urgent needs.

In "Inspira," I suggested going beyond our community, as the problems we are dealing with concern the entire region. And since the prerequisites for uniting entrepreneurs had already been created, people readily accepted this idea. They clearly understood the meanings around which we unite, as in the last days of mid-March, everyone was talking about COVID-19 and the main problem of Ukrainian hospitals - the protection of doctors. In Spain alone, there are currently 20,000 coronavirus-infected doctors.

Of course, there were also many individual initiatives by entrepreneurs. For example, the owner of one of Dnipro's private clinics helped medics get to work, someone bought ventilators for a hospital, and so on. But all these initiatives were scattered, and they needed to be united and systematically presented. After all, in contrast to the local authorities, businesses are indeed doing a lot.

We created the "Dnipro Business vs COVID-19" platform, launched a website through which we attract funds from everyone willing. It took a week from the first online meetings to the collection of the first funds. At the moment, we have already collected more than 1.5 million UAH.

The roles among the project participants were distributed naturally: someone is responsible for collecting money, someone communicates externally, etc. The Kiddo charity fund also joined us, which knows how to manage accumulated funds and maintains contact with supply chains and hospitals. Therefore, it is responsible for spending the collected money: buying masks and respirators, protective suits, and other things needed by medical institutions.

We also facilitated entrepreneurs in providing hospitals with what they lacked: dishes, buckets, certain household goods. Some businessmen purchased diesel fuel for ambulances at their own expense. Unfortunately, all this is mostly "plugging holes" rather than systematic work. Essentially, we are performing the tasks of the local authorities, who do not spend budget money on equipping hospitals (although these funds are available).

Interestingly, we not only established cooperation within the region but also between regions. For example, Maksym Leontyev from HD-group helped us with supplies, and Yuriy Filyuk reached out to us to implement something similar in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Personal steps

At the beginning of the quarantine, I moved to a village near Dnipro. The street where I live has no lighting. In three days, I agreed with the head, and we solved this problem. I also ordered 140 paulownia seedlings (a tree that grows quickly) and will plant them throughout the village. I see that the village is not ready for an epidemic, so if cases of illness appear here, it will be necessary to create an anti-crisis headquarters.

By the way, the idea of transporting medics to hospitals had a continuation. I realized that I hardly use my car now, so I gave it to a doctor I know, who now gathers colleagues and brings them to work. It costs them nothing, as I have an electric car and a corporate charging station. After learning about this story, another kmbs graduate, Thomas Brunner, arranged with the "Aelita" car company to provide several cars for transporting medics. So, a kind of wave started.

The philosophy of the pandemic

In times like these, many moral questions arise. What should you do? What decisions should you make? What is your role, and what are you responsible for?

We are currently working with philosophers and carefully studying the topic of death and the meanings of life. Because right now, the old system of coordinates, the old meanings are changing. We need to find new ones. Viktor Frankl's works are relevant now. We are also exploring the philosophy of the pandemic. After all, what we are experiencing now is not the first pandemic in human history; they occur cyclically. For example, in the mid-17th century, there was an epidemic of bubonic plague in London, which Daniel Defoe wrote about in his diaries. We organize webinars to tell this story.

The pandemic has a significant sociocultural impact. It can change the system completely, for better or worse. At a minimum, the current situation can prompt people to think about the connection between the decisions we make in elections to state and local authorities and the circumstances we ultimately find ourselves in.

Mykola Demchenko: "We clearly understood the meanings around which we unite"