OREANDA-NEWS  On 28 October was announced, that IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, launched a project that could help improve the business environment in Ukraine by encouraging mediation of corporate disputes and providing a less-expensive alternative to litigation.

The Ukraine Corporate Governance Mediation Pilot project, which is being implemented in cooperation with the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, will introduce corporate mediation to the country. The project is designed to achieve cost and time savings for small, medium, and other enterprises. Through IFC’s assistance KMBS has established the Ukrainian Mediation Center (www.ukrmediation.com.ua), which will combine training in mediation and negotiation skills with academic research on effective dispute resolution, and provide services on mediation of corporate disputes.

Under the project, leading international consultants will conduct mediation-skills training programs to teach effective dispute resolution. Trained mediators will then be deployed to resolve corporate disputes as part of the Ukrainian Mediation Center’s work.

IFC and KMBS also will work to increase awareness among Ukrainian businesses that mediation can be an efficient dispute resolution method and complement the judicial system. The project is also developing training courses on mediation and alternative dispute resolution that will be introduced into the KMBS curriculum.

“Through the joint efforts of KMBS and IFC we will create favorable conditions for companies to transform their conflicts into opportunities," said Galyna Eromenko, KMBS’ representative and the head of Ukrainian Mediation Center.

The Ukraine project is a part of IFC's ADR Global Product Development Initiative. Supported by the governments of Canada and the Netherlands, IFC helped introduce mediation in Bosnia in 2004 by launching the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program. The program has settled 350 cases in three years, freeing more than USD 13.5 million in blocked assets that local businesses are now reinvesting.

About KMBS

Kyiv-Mohyla Business School was established in 1999 in one of the oldest universities of the Eastern Europe. In 2002 it was the first school in Ukraine to open an innovative five-module Executive MBA program. In 2005, it introduced the Presidential MBA, a unique program for business owners. For more information, visit www.kmbs.com.ua.