Serhiy Kasyanov on strategy and values in wartime conditions

Sergey Kasyanov

The art of living in crisis

War is the destabilization of all processes that were built in a completely different context, under completely different conditions. We see how supply chains and logistics, investment priorities, sales markets, labor, financial markets are now being reshaped... On the other hand, to be efficient and win in an unstable world in which the rules of the game are constantly changing - this ability over the past 30 years has been confidently registered in genetics of Ukrainian companies. Ukrainian business was formed in the 90s, saw revolutions and economic crises, the war in Donbas and the coronavirus pandemic. We are used to living and working under conditions of force majeure. Another thing is that the scale of Ukraine's economic losses after February 24, 2022 is unprecedented. According to NBU estimates, the country lost approximately half of its GDP. At the beginning of March, more than 70% of companies stopped their work. However, I think now the first shock has already passed, and the Ukrainian business community is gradually adapting to the new reality. If we talk about the agricultural holding KSG Agro, which I head, then we have something to compare the current situation with. In 2014, a rapidly growing company with a land bank of almost 100,000 hectares, with shares that were highly quoted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, had already experienced a similar catastrophic experience. At that time, Russian aggression caused colossal damage to many businessmen. In our country, for example, more than 20 million dollars were invested in the irrigated lands of the Crimea - these are investments and assets that are lost today. However, after 8 years that have passed since that time, we have not only survived, but are also successfully developing, fulfilling all debt obligations, making new investments, developing new, including international, projects.

Speed ​​and responsibility

In my opinion, after 2014, Ukrainian society is only now fully aware that wars are won not only on the battlefield. They are won by economic systems and strategies. It is no coincidence that Sun Tzu's treatise "The Art of War" is so popular among those who teach and learn management. In war and in business, effective management approaches are subject to the same laws and principles. Alexander Vandegrift, a major general in the US Marine Corps, argued: “A position is rarely lost because it is destroyed. Most often, this happens if the leader himself has decided: it is impossible to keep it." Belief in victory and concentration on success already helped us to endure after 2014. Today, in order to win the war, Ukraine needs a full-fledged business that will enable Ukrainians to provide themselves with everything they need, and its Armed Forces. KSG Agro intends to win and is not going to give up its position. Effective Ukrainian business in the conditions of war is the adaptability of management, the ability to set new tasks and goals, quickly analyze risk factors and quickly make decisions. We are fully aware that the cost of each specific management decision - both for an individual business and for the country as a whole - is now greater than ever. Therefore, our business strategy is based on two main principles - high speed of reactions to any challenges and awareness of a high degree of responsibility for each decision. We talk about how to act quickly and responsibly at master classes for representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. Our interaction with state administration bodies will be built on the same principles.

War and profit

With the beginning of the war, Ukrainian entrepreneurs are forced to work in a new reality. The services and products of many companies were not in demand, many markets were closed. In the conditions when Russia blocks sea transportation and all Ukrainian ports, agricultural holding KSG Agro focused primarily on the domestic Ukrainian market. Our main production facilities are located in the Dnipropetrovsk region. This region has always been strategically important for Ukraine — both in terms of defense, economic, logistical, and military-industrial terms. Since 2014, the region has been working for Ukrainian victory: it fights on the front line, accepts refugees, treats the wounded, produces vital goods and services for the front and rear... Therefore, the livestock complex KSG Agro, where there are almost 60,000 pig herds - an important link in the food security system of the region and the country as a whole. It produces and supplies more than 50% of pork to the market of the Dnipro region. Therefore, in wartime, an agricultural holding evaluates the results of its activity not only and not so much by the amount of profit, but by success in stability, continuity and volumes of production, as well as the preservation of human capital.

Unity for victory

To ensure uninterrupted operation of the pig complex, the company's compound feed plant has formed a long-term strategic stock of compound feed and ingredients for their production. During the war, the factory switched from one to two shifts, producing more than 200 tons of compound feed per day. A full-fledged sowing was carried out in the planned mode. And that is why we had the necessary investment resource at our disposal. A reserve of fuel, seeds, SZR was created... When planning the sowing structure, emphasis is now placed on grain crops (60%), which are currently the most in demand in the country. Our investment plans have not changed either: the holding continues to purchase new production equipment and replenish the fleet with new 20-ton refrigerators. In the marketing strategy, however, a certain correction took place: in addition to the traditional partnership of partnership with large retail chains, the search and expansion of new sales channels is ongoing. The program of food aid to military administrations became an important component in the system of shipments. The first free batch of 10,000 kg of pork has already been handed over to KSG Agro for the needs of the Armed Forces, hospitals and hospitals of the Dnipropetrovsk region. At the moment, our holding is ready to supply the military and medical institutions with up to 5 tons of pork per week. In agreement with the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, the delivery of 40,000 kg of pork has begun, which will be used to make stew for our soldiers who protect the borders of the region. The main lessons of 2022 are that there are no trifles in war, it is impossible to survive or win alone. Therefore, companies, state administration, and leaders should unite for the sake of common victory. The business strategy must be responsible and integrated into the overall result. The program of food aid to military administrations became an important component in the system of shipments. The first free batch of 10,000 kg of pork has already been handed over to KSG Agro for the needs of the Armed Forces, hospitals and hospitals of the Dnipropetrovsk region. At the moment, our holding is ready to supply the military and medical institutions with up to 5 tons of pork per week. In agreement with the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, the delivery of 40,000 kg of pork has begun, which will be used to make stew for our soldiers who protect the borders of the region. The main lessons of 2022 are that there are no trifles in war, it is impossible to survive or win alone. Therefore, companies, state administration, and leaders should unite for the sake of common victory. The business strategy must be responsible and integrated into the overall result. The program of food aid to military administrations became an important component in the system of shipments. The first free batch of 10,000 kg of pork has already been handed over to KSG Agro for the needs of the Armed Forces, hospitals and hospitals of the Dnipropetrovsk region. At the moment, our holding is ready to supply the military and medical institutions with up to 5 tons of pork per week. In agreement with the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, the delivery of 40,000 kg of pork has begun, which will be used to make stew for our soldiers who protect the borders of the region. The main lessons of 2022 are that there are no trifles in war, it is impossible to survive or win alone. Therefore, companies, state administration, and leaders should unite for the sake of common victory. The business strategy must be responsible and integrated into the overall result.

Human capital

Social responsibility is an important part of our business mission. The company KSG Agro has always helped Ukrainians in solving the most acute social problems during the most difficult periods for the country. Back in 2004, we launched the Future Social Development Fund, which actively contributed to the development of united territorial communities, invested in the education and medical system, supported vulnerable segments of the population during the COVID-19 pandemic, and helped ATO soldiers and their families. Now, in wartime, the social aspects of the company's activities are a priority for us. In order to increase the food security of the entire region, the holding implements projects of social protection of labor collectives and territorial communities where production is located. We have developed a comprehensive security system for employees and their families - this is very important for an enterprise operating in the frontline zone. Protection of the production, adjacent territories and settlements was organized together with the Teroborona. Fighters are provided with regular food and equipment. The enterprise is equipped with three bomb shelters. So that our employees who have small children do not have to worry about them, we opened our own kindergarten in the administrative building. During the period of military operations, the company significantly increased the wage fund by introducing "military" allowances. There are employment programs for residents of other regions fleeing the war on the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region. For those who need official housing, the agricultural holding rents apartments at its own expense, in addition to the salary. Organized free lunches for employees, distribution of food kits to shareholders and residents of settlements where the company operates.

We save lives - we protect the future!

Of course, given the scale of the dire challenges facing our country today, the activities of the "Future" Fund are not limited to corporate frameworks and the territory of one region. The fund involves world structures in cooperation: Swiss public organizations, British charitable foundations, American, European and domestic companies. Opened offices and transport and logistics hubs in Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Lugano (Switzerland), Bucharest (Romania). More than 40 employees and volunteers of the Foundation are involved in its activities: program administrators and office workers, drivers and forwarders, warehouse workers and accountants. They collect orders from regional headquarters, assemble and, in accordance with the orders, deliver humanitarian goods across Ukraine. The famous Ukrainian traumatologist Professor Oleksandr Loskutov, the author of 202 scientific papers and 34 inventions, was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation. Thanks to him and the Ukrainian-German Society of Orthopedic Traumatologists, headed by Oleksandr Yevgenovych, fruitful cooperation with a number of European clinics has been established. Thanks to their humanitarian aid, Ukrainian doctors and victims of Russian aggression are provided with everything they need. The first batch of humanitarian cargo weighing more than 3 tons has already been delivered and distributed to Ukraine, in the formation of which 7 German universities, clinics, pharmacies and insurance companies took part. These are over a hundred product names. And, first of all, orthopedic sets, scarce medical materials for the treatment of our soldiers with limb injuries. In addition, The Foundation signed Memoranda of Humanitarian Cooperation with several military administrations. The main emphasis is on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv - where the fiercest battles are taking place and where the largest number of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are being treated. Since the beginning of the war, the Fund has organized the delivery of humanitarian goods for the Ukrainian front and rear for a total amount of about 640,000 euros. These are medicines, wheelchairs, fuel and lubricants, food products, first-aid kits, walkie-talkies, power banks, berets, food products, safety equipment, warm clothes, shoes... and where the largest number of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are being treated. Since the beginning of the war, the Fund has organized the delivery of humanitarian goods for the Ukrainian front and rear for a total amount of about 640,000 euros. These are medicines, wheelchairs, fuel and lubricants, food products, first-aid kits, walkie-talkies, power banks, berets, food products, safety equipment, warm clothes, shoes... and where the largest number of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are being treated. Since the beginning of the war, the Fund has organized the delivery of humanitarian goods for the Ukrainian front and rear for a total amount of about 640,000 euros. These are medicines, wheelchairs, fuel and lubricants, food products, first-aid kits, walkie-talkies, power banks, berets, food products, safety equipment, warm clothes, shoes...

War and values

As in business, in war the main resource is people, their motivation, their faith, their values. For me personally, the support of our country by leading Western companies is an indicator that Ukraine is integrated into the global civilized business community. When most of my colleagues stop working in Russia, close production and investment programs there, they are not just "punishing the aggressor". They demonstrate that for real business leaders, moral position and universal human values ​​are higher than money. Respect for the law, individual freedom, security, sustainable development, non-violence - now the whole world knows that these are also Ukrainian values. Our country is fighting for these values ​​today. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to these companies, their employees and partners for their anti-war, pro-Ukrainian position,

Source: War and business: Serhii Kasyanov on strategy and values ​​in wartime | Open