That last step is not the easiest thing to do, for several reasons. One is that Ukraine is ranked 139th of about 180 countries in terms of “ease of doing business”. That applies almost as much to native Ukrainians as it does to us foreigners. The primary differences are that native Ukrainians are more accustomed to the difficulties and are better able to navigate the attending bureaucracy especially as they are able to do so in their native language.

While there are some westerners who are fluent in Russian and/or Ukrainian, they are very few in number. The vast majority of those who aspire to fluency find that it is a frustrating, long-term effort. It is not simple. It is easier for Ukrainians to learn English on the simple basis that they have exponentially greater exposure via television, music, advertisement, and actual schooling in English. How many Russian television shows or songs did you ever hear in Amarillo, Texas or Puyallup, Washington?

So...that complicates things a bit; but not overly so. Doing business in Ukraine for most expatriates requires them to take advantage of the resources they do have – that their Ukrainian counterparts do not have. This includes at least two things, and probably more. The first is that you likely have a far greater fluency in “business English” and the second is that you likely have far more “English-speaking business connections”.

There are several barriers to overcome in practically applying these resources when going mono a mono. These barriers include finding opportunities that may be of interest to your connections, or vice versa. Thus, the matter becomes one of expanding your network to include qualified individuals and companies able to facilitate communications with a Ukrainian or Russian buyer or seller. Your role is facilitating communications with western buyers and sellers. This is normal business in Ukraine and involves a split on agent commissions – which can range from about 1 to 5% depending on what is involved.

So...back to the question, is this a new kind of Introductions Opportunity? No. Not at all. What is new is that the process of connecting has been made somewhat easier and simpler with what we’ve developed at Ukraine Business Development Group (UkrBDG). UkrBDG is looking for both buyers and sellers on a wide range of products, properties and services and would happily welcome you as a contact and prospective free agent. If this sounds like something of interest to you, please contact me.