The door man

By Vitaly Sych
October 3, 2001

For the last nine years, Myron Wasylyk has collected the keys to various doors in Ukraine. Today, he makes part of his living as a lobbyist, using those keys to open doors for businesses that want to communicate with Ukraine's top lawmakers and government officials.

Wasylyk, a partner and vice president of public relations firm The PBN Company, said that because many of the country's regulations don't meet international standards, foreign companies are often unable to expand their businesses in Ukraine.

That's where he comes in. When antiquated rules prevent companies from selling or manufacturing their products in Ukraine, they turn to his firm for help.

Effective lobbying is more about providing information than about backroom political arm-twisting, he said. In most cases, merely providing a sound economic reason for legislation is enough to gain support. The challenge is getting the client's case before an official who has the power to help.

"Lobbying, by its nature, is providing decision makers with objective and impartial information," he said.

Wasylyk is quick to dispel the notion that officials are more receptive to information when it comes wrapped in cash.

"Obviously, there are those who like to entice with monetary compensation," Wasylyk said. But his company does not offer bribes, he said. It works only with lawmakers and government officials who realize the benefit that positive changes can bring to the country.

A U.S. citizen of Ukrainian descent, Wasylyk first visited his parents' homeland in 1991, shortly after Ukraine became independent. Wasylyk, then an employee of the U.S. State Department, said his knowledge of Ukrainian and Russian helped him to land a job with the newly established U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.

"I thought I'd come here for six months and ended up coming for nine years," he said.

After two years with the U.S. Embassy, Wasylyk moved into the Ukrainian political arena. For several years, he helped Ukraine shape its foreign policy as a member of parliament's council of advisers. He also worked with Yury Yekhanurov, then head of the State Property Fund, to help sell Ukraine's state-owned companies.

It wasn't until 1996 that he joined PBN, a Washington-based public relations company establishing a network of offices throughout the former Soviet Union. Today, the company maintains offices in London, Moscow, Almaty, Chisinau, the three Baltic states, as well as in Kyiv.

Wasylyk said PBN's revenues in Ukraine have averaged close to $1 million each year for the last three years. The Kyiv branch of PBN is second only to the Moscow office in revenues generated in the CIS, Wasylyk said. The fruit of Wasylyk's labor can be seen most nights on television news. One aspect of the company's business is teaching Ukrainian politicians better public speaking skills.

Wasylyk said Ukrainian ministers related to the economy, including Finance Minster Ihor Mityukov and State Property Fund head Oleksandr Bondar, have taken public speaking courses offered by PBN.

"We put a person in a separate room and ask him questions," Wasylyk said. He said that the session is videotaped, allowing PBN staff to review and critique the tape with the official.

Wasylyk said the training consists of six-hour sessions where PBN officials explain to the client how to prepare for meetings with the media, convey necessary messages during interviews and withstand grilling from reporters.

After one or two sessions, some government officials improve dramatically, while others need dozens of sessions, he said.

The major portion of Wasylyk's business, though, involves helping large multinational firms like Coca-Cola and Mary Kay Cosmetics make changes in Ukrainian laws and administrative rules. One recent assignment involved persuading the government to allow the use of sugar substitutes in food products. That change cleared the way for the manufacture of "light" and sugar-free products in Ukraine.

"In most cases, our lobbying activities are geared toward allowing our clients to expand their business activities and product mixes in Ukraine," he said.

Media relations is another part of the company's work.

Kostyantyn Ryabenko, a spokesman for tobacco giant Philip Morris, said PBN organized several media round-tables for his company over the last two years. Ryabenko said government officials and members of parliament were regular guests at the meetings, which drew about 25 reporters.

Though the meetings weren't focused strictly on tobacco issues, Ryabenko said, the roundtables helped Philip Morris build its image among media and consumers. There were designed to "develop civilized relations between the mass media and business," Ryabenko said.

Getting the Ukrainian media's attention can be more difficult than in other countries, Wasylyk said.

Most media outlets in Ukraine aren't commercial projects but promotional vehicles for various politicians, he said, making it difficult to get stories published in the press based on their merits.

Wasylyk cites his company's current attempt to explain a business dispute between South Korea's Daewoo and its local partners to the media.

"Every time we put out a press release, we receive phone calls asking how much we are willing to pay [to have the story published]," he said.

In most cases, he said, paying for a story isn't worth the expense, since most newspapers' circulation is low.

While Washington, D.C., is about the same size as Kyiv, Washington newspapers sell about 10 times Kyiv's daily circulation, he said.

Wasylyk said that the government should reduce its role in the media, which would benefit both Ukraine's publishing and public relations industries. Currently Ukraine's public relations business is confined to a handful of companies fighting for a market share.

Perhaps the industry will more fully develop after the government privatizes key industries, such as energy and agriculture, Wasylyk said. As long as these sectors remain in state hands, he said, Ukraine's public relations business will stagnate.

"Where there is no competition, there is no need for public relations firms," he said. "Otherwise, it's not PR, it's propaganda."