PBN Ukraine's New Office  

Just as the winter 2003 snow began melting and the first signs of spring appeared, The PBN Company's Ukraine team was busy moving into its new three-story, 300-square meter office in downtown Kyiv. Located on historic Mykhailivska Street between Independence Square and the gold domes of the reconstructed St. Michael's Cathedral, the PBN office is located literally in the heart of Ukraine.

PBN occupied the brick townhouse on the 1st of March, joining a dynamic neighborhood that includes Raiffeisen Bank, KPMG, Altheimer & Grey, IOM, Studio 1+1, and the fashionable Globus Shopping Center.

The new facility conveniently grouped the corporate reputation management and media relations division on the first floor, government relations and public affairs on the second, and the finance, management and strategic planning departments on the third. Two conference rooms located on the ground floor are fully equipped to serve as convenient venues for client and staff meetings, as well as media, speakers' and crisis communications trainings, hallmarks of the Ukraine team's client services offerings.

The PBN Company began working with commercial clients such as Coca-Cola, Philip Morris and Utel in Ukraine in 1998. A small temporary office on Bohdana Khmelnitskoho Street housed PBN in the early days, when power outages and combined telephone/fax lines were common. From there, the firm quickly grew into a 150-meter space located in the fashionable "Passage" off of central Krestyatyk Street. Though fully wired and automated, PBN soon outgrew the Passage office due to the firm's expanding client list, staff and communications requirements.

"The new Mykhailivska Street location is perfect for us at this stage," says Myron Wasylyk, PBN's Managing Director. He added, "It's close enough to the halls of power and in the center of downtown Kyiv's commercial retail district."

"We're happy to be growing and servicing the needs of our clients and I hope we don't outgrow this office too soon," says Wasylyk. "The demand for strategic communications services is booming as regional businesses mature and international investments increase in the capital and throughout Ukraine."