On October 7, the program aimed at the development of the up-to-date managerial skills for 30 senior officers from Armed Forces of Ukraine Command, Ministry of Defense, and General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began. For the first time, representatives of private, public and charity sectors joined their forces to upgrade the most critical skills of the Ukrainian Army.

The Come Back Alive Charity Fund commissioned this program. Andriy Kobolyev, the CEO of the Naftogaz of Ukraine funded the program with his private money. “In February 2019 he said that all his salary for the rest of 2019 will be used for charity. He contributed his money to 3 charity funds, one of them “Come Back Alive”. We agreed that this time we will use this money for the education for the Armed Forces of Ukraine rather than night vision systems. The program costs half-million hryvnias because we also pay for meals. We will publish all those numbers in our on-line financial reporting. The full price of such program is twice as much,” Vitaly Deinega, the founder of the Come Back Alive fund who initiated the program.

Vitaly explained why MIM-Kyiv was selected. “It was extremely important for us to select a partner who would care for the country and eager to make it stronger. The price is the best indicator of the position. MIM-Kyiv offered less than half of the market price for the program of that type. Moreover, after that Iryna Tykhomyrova, MIM’s president told me that all MIM-Kyiv resources were at my disposal and they would do whatever it takes.”

Moreover, the program is very innovative and could be modified to achieve its objectives. “Nobody had the opportunity to work with such audience and in such format,” Iryna Tykhomyrova said. “Those people studied how to manage. But we are teaching the latest managerial skills.”

“When talking to the military I understood that they lack current managerial skills which are available in business, namely understand, manage and communicate with people, manage the resources, etc. Unfortunately, pressure and power are still the main managerial instruments. NATO armies use different managerial and communication tools. Only business education could help master them because business managed only with the pressure and power would not be competitive,” Vitaly explained.

“The program consists of 3 main blocks. The first one covers strategy, finance and macroeconomics. It will help improve goal-setting skills. The second one is about how to execute the set tasks. It includes logistics management and project management. The third block will cover soft skills or people’s management. It will feature courses in motivation, managerial psychology, cross-cultural management, etc.,” Iryna Tykhomyrova explained.

It is a 3-month program which will finish with the exam. All who will pass it successfully will receive MIM-Kyiv diploma.

Oleksandr Tereshchenko, Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs, Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, a veteran officer and the program participant said:

“The public administration system is clumsy and heavy and we cannot make quick decisions when it is necessary. First of all, we often do not have strategy and vision, therefore, all decisions are made very slowly. As we are launching something it gets obsolete. I believe that courses in strategy and strategic planning may drive the right changes. In addition to strategic planning, I am also interested in project management and project launching in particular. After I was appointed the Deputy Minister, I have to deal with managerial problems of a much higher level. Thus, I need to learn a lot to meet the requirements and expectations.”