Zoltan Horvath: I believe in Ukraine, I love and respect Ukrainians

Zoltan Horvath – Hungarian businessman, representative of the Chamber of Commerce of Ukraine in Hungary, owner of the East-West Mentor Company has spoken about his attitude towards Ukraine, why he decided to open a representative office of his company in Ukraine when investors are afraid of an unstable economic situation of our country. Businessman told us how he sees the development of his company in Ukraine, you can read it exclusively in the «Journalist».

– You are a great friend of Ukraine and promote its interests in your country. What connects you to Ukraine, why is the attitude to it special??

• My mother first of all connects me with Ukraine, she is Ukrainian, she is from Ternopil region, and now, recently I have opened consulting company East West Mentor in Kyiv. Here I have many friends and partners.

– Do you believe that Ukrainians will be able to overcome the crisis and the country will once again become united and independent?

• In general, I believe that Ukraine will become a successful and rich country, because it is a country of opportunities and prosperity, a country with hardworking and positive people who are not afraid of challenges and love their country, respect their history and defend their integrity and sovereignty. And today it is very important to develop good-neighborly relations with European countries, to cooperate in various areas of public life and business.

– ВYou have opened a representative office of your company in Ukraine, while investors are afraid of an unstable economic situation here. Why did you decide to do it now?

• As I have already mentioned I really believe in Ukraine, and I love and respect the Ukrainians. I heard a lot of positive information about Ukraine and information about new opportunities from the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Ukraine in Hungary, Lyuba Nepop. It was with her that we started supporting social projects for Ukrainian children from the ATO zone and rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers who were traumatized in the ATO. I also received a lot of information from Ukrainian deputy Dmitry Lubents, at his invitation several times we visited the Donetsk region and realized together social projects for children. But it is very important for any investor before starting his business or investing in the country – to find and have reliable partners in various fields, partners who can be trusted and confident in themselves. I have such partners – they are, first and foremost, the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which I have the honor to represent since April on behalf of Hungary and its president Gennady Chizhikov. I am also honored to name the President of the International Center for Baltic-Black Sea Studies and Consensus Practices Irina Vereshchuk, the founder of the Ya-Volnovaha CF Yanina Lubinets, the General Director of the Khmelnytskyi Metallurgical Plant «Tin Impex» Alina Skomorokhova, and my business partner in Ukraine who realizes large number of international social projects Anna Krysiuk.

– It is known that there are political misunderstandings between Ukraine and Hungary from time to time. Do you think that the strengthening of economic relations between the countries will help their solution and a better understanding at the level of the peoples?

• If there are well-established business relations between the countries, then there should not be conflicts, but we must understand that politics also affects business, so I believe that our countries and the politicians of both countries will find a compromise for the sake of mutually beneficial cooperation and the bright future of our children. And that there should not be any conflicts, we need to communicate more, open joint business in Ukraine and vice versa, and implement joint social and educational projects for our children.

– What are your plans for Ukraine, how do you see the development of your company? Will there be a social component in its activities?

• East West Mentor provides consulting services in almost all spheres of business, audit, analytics, legal consulting, PR, communications, lobbying and investment support. Our company will not only be socially responsible and very progressive in social responsibility, especially in support of talented children and the establishment of friendly relations among children and youth between Ukraine and Hungary. I will explain to you why my partner and co-owner of the company East West Mentor UA Anna Krysiuk has been implementing many Ukrainian and international social projects for more than 10 years, she has been involved in charity and trusteeship of talented and low-income children. This is because once we started talking about opening a company in Ukraine and establishing business relations between Ukraine and Hungary, the first thing she proposed was the social responsibility of our company and the support of Ukrainian social initiatives, which I immediately agreed because I understand that now Ukraine really needs support. Also, our plans for the near future are the opening of three international representative offices of the company in Europe and Asia, holding several closed business forums and networking for business owners of Ukraine and Hungary and expanding opportunities for affordable business between our countries.