Corporate Governance

Concorde Capital presents its second survey of transparency and investor friendliness of websites Ukrainian securities issues, “IR Online in Ukraine – 2013. Despite the attitude of the global investment community to Ukraine have worsened noticeably, Ukrainain companies improved, on average, their IR practices. The upholding of quality standards by Ukrainian companies leaves the chance that our securities markets sooner or later will recover.

The research team at investment bank Concorde Capital presented the results of its fourth survey of corporate governance standards and practices among Ukrainian publicly traded companies, “Corporate Governance in Ukraine – May 2013.” The goal of the research was to present stock markets players with instruments that can help them better understand corporate governance practices among Ukrainian companies in reaching well-grounded investment decisions.

This the first-ever analytical study of the websites of 100 leading Ukrainian companies, including those listed on a stock exchange (foreign and local) and those with bonds (Eurobonds and local bonds). It includes a ranking of websites by investor-friendliness. One of the key findings was that Ukrainian websites were by far more oriented toward customers than investors.

Our new report, released in both English and Russian languages, is still the only report of its kind – a comprehensive and systematic analytical study of the corporate governance practices in Ukrainian companies. This report rated 114 companies, including those listed in London, Warsaw and Frankfurt based on information from public resources, corporate publications, and top-level management. Improvement is evident – the number of top-rated companies doubled compared to 2007, while the number of lowest-rated companies was cut in half.

Concorde Capital’s second update on the corporate governance practices in Ukrainian companies. This report covered 175 companies (up from 117 in 2007), encompassing all sectors of the Ukrainian equity market, including those companies listed on foreign exchanges. Our study showed a marked improvement in the profile of public Ukrainian companies' corporate governance over the last year: the average score was 1.9 vs. 0.8 in 2007.

This is the first comprehensive study of corporate governance in Ukraine. The report found that “on the whole, Ukrainian companies are still far behind their western peers in terms of corporate development...” The average score was 0.8, which corresponded to a “Below Average” rating.