IBM considers a possibility to open a large service center in Kharkiv

They discussed a possibility of creating in Kharkiv a global IBM center for servicing clients of the company on the territory of Ukraine and CIS.
As Amanda Garland noticed the work of such a center may be organized in several directions. For example there may be organized service for business-users supporting (finance management, accounting, human resources), support in operating data by the centers and IT-users servicing supporting, support of software users etc.
In future it is possible to create about 2 thousand working places in IBM center.
As Amanda Garland informed the corporation was looking for the most attractive countries and cities to open the global center. The city must provide enough number of specialists with foreign languages knowledge, certain financial, project, stuff and data base management competence and also be suitable to other demands. .
“Kharkiv is the city where the highly qualified specialists are prepared. It is the first point we are interested in the cities where our center is potentially able to be opened. We also pay attention to the point that the city must be interesting in business activity. The financial part of the question is also important for the center opening and maintenance , in Kiev, for example, it is rather expensive. We are going to study your possibilities, if there are suitable conditions we are going to recommend both the city and the country for the further work” – the vice-president of the company informed.
As Gennady Kernes informed, Kharkiv was interested in IBM project realization in the city.
“We have got acquainted with your technical task and we are ready to give you our maximum help. When we got to know about the meeting we started to look for suitable premises. We have already had a technopark in Kharkiv, but it is of different orientation. I would like you to consider our city and its possibilities more properly”, - the mayor of Kharkiv noticed.
People’s Deputy Valery Pisarenko who also was present at the meeting, admitted that Kharkiv was the most suitable city for projects like this one.
“Kharkiv is the best city in Ukraine where you can open your center. The level of support which the municipal power is able to give and which is able to be strengthen by central level representation you can not get anywhere in Ukraine. In Kharkiv it won’t be necessary to deal with officials, which is called one of the negative sides of business in Ukraine. By now Kharkiv is the biggest center on preparing specialists which you need in your business segment. Besides we studied Singapore, Russia and Kazakhstan experience on IT-parks creating – both positive and negative sides. And we are going to use it in order to make the most comfortable conditions for your company, Valery Pisarenko noticed. – I do not want to nip on ahead, but I think that Ukrainian parliament is going to change the legislation connected to IT-companies in order to create better tax conditions for them in Ukraine”
Program of IBM delegation visit to Kharkiv is made for two days. In particular they are planning to meet the top-management of one of the recruiting agencies and also meet the rector of NTU “KPI” Leonid Tovazhnyansky and rector of Kharkiv national economical university Vladimir Ponomarenko.