Was the topic of Mr. Dmytro Shymkiv’s discussion with MIM-Kyiv’s community. “Crisis is always about opportunities,” said he.

Mr. Shymkiv is the deputy head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine on administrative, social and economic reforms, and one of the new generation politicians known for his international experience and a an advocate of the newest technologies.

E-declarations by Ukrainian MPs and high-ranked officials have been quite a hot topic since they were released. Mr. Shymkiv focused on the disruptive nature of the declaration to the current culture. In particular, the electronic signature adopted within the e-declaration legislation in fact opened the door for e-government. He said, “We do not miss networks or technologies but rather culture of using those facilities. Whenever we launch e-initiatives, some people do their best to terminate those initiatives because they are not comfortable with them. So, it is the issue of the mindset and culture.”

2017 reforms were discussed. In particular, Mr. Shymkiv mentioned that judicial reform is in the pipeline. According to him smart agriculture and aerospace industry are other top priorities. Those sectors are supposed to be investment drivers in Ukraine. 4G implementation plan was considered to be the icing on the cake of 2017.

Mr. Shymkiv as one of the most successful CEOs for Microsoft Ukraine used to be a star of corporate Ukraine. His corporate future caused quite a number of questions about his change of the life avenues. He was brutally honest, “If you want to get things done in the multinational you’d better be good at politics and politicking. My Microsoft lessons help me a lot in my current position.”

Prof. Iryna Tykhomyrova reinforced the optimistic approach by mentioning that this year discussion with Mr. Shymkiv is much more constructive and friendly compared to the similar event in 2015. “Now I believe that country is changing for the better,” she highlighted the meeting.