Julia Yarmolenko, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BPC: BPC products are represented in 15 countries of the world, and our exports are constantly growing
28 January 2025 15:22
Yulia Yarmolenko is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BKK Company, Professor of the Marketing Department of the Academy of Labor, Social Relations and Tourism, Chairman of the Charity Fund, and a member of the Kyiv City Council. The woman combines all these professional roles literally “non-stop”, as evidenced at least by her social networks. Yulia Yarmolenko told Komersant ukrainskyi 
in a blitz interview about the peculiarities of the development of a large confectionery business under war conditions and why business today cannot exist in isolation from political and social processes in the country .
– BKK is a sweet brand that is known to literally every Ukrainian. BKK is at the same time a very large company, whose products are represented in all corners of the country. It is obviously not an easy task to preserve logistics, quality, jobs, and to expand the product line in parallel under the conditions of war. What role in their realization do the decisions of the Supervisory Board of the company and your own decisions play?
– The decisions of the Supervisory Board are, in fact, an active strategic position in the strategic and operational management of the company. They are related to pricing, strategic partnerships. But they are also operational decisions, for example, regarding alternative sources of energy or water supply, when such an urgent need arose for our company in war conditions. The Supervisory Board also decides on changes in strategies. And at the time the full-scale invasion began, it was precisely such hard decisions that were required promptly and judiciously at the same time. In the case of BPC, these were difficult logistical decisions, changing delivery regions, searching for alternative directions to diversify the business, finding new ways to retain and expand the customer base. In general, the Supervisory Board cannot exist separately from the day-to-day activities of the company, and therefore we and I personally are fully and functionally involved in the operational management of the company.
– In your opinion, does the confectionery business in Ukraine today have prospects of active development or, probably, on the contrary, is now facing challenges that hamper the prospects of the industry as a whole?
– Confectionery, like other industries, of course, faces challenges. For example, lack of power supply at the point of sale. This is something that instantly affects sales performance. And every business in Ukraine has learned from scratch to overcome this problem, to find sources of additional funding for the purchase of generators, to optimize other costs, to scale successful solutions to the regions.
By the end of 2024, BPC products are represented in 15 countries around the world, and our exports have grown by 88%.
The next challenge, which is also directly related to light, is product spoilage. To mitigate this risk, we had to reduce the volume of deliveries for some time. As a consequence, drivers were reduced, and completely new logistics solutions were needed.
Another challenge that business had to take on with dignity was mobilization. On the one hand men are needed at the front, but on the other hand the lack of reservations led to the loss of really important and highly specialized production specialists. Well, and the third challenge I can name is the decline in the income of Ukrainians, which directly affects their purchasing power.
Meanwhile, BPC, like many Ukrainian companies, has learned to work under the conditions of war. And not just to work, but to develop and help the army in parallel. According to the results of 2024, BPC products are represented in 15 countries of the world, and our exports have grown by 88%. The company began to actively develop online sales, and in just one year we manufactured and delivered more than 4 million kilograms of our products to Ukrainians all over the country. In 2024, BPC also confirmed ISO certification and the company installed its second solar power plant. Before the war, we did not even think about such achievements. So we have learned to transform challenges and problems into new opportunities. And this, to me, is such a very strong feature of Ukrainian entrepreneurship.
During the year we manufactured and delivered to Ukrainians all over the country more than 4 million kilograms of our products.
– Did Ukrainians start to allow themselves more sweets during the war? If yes, how would you explain this trend?
– I don’t think so. Because of the occupation of territories at the beginning of the war and further on, we recorded an average 15% decrease in sales. But our sales per point are in line with pre-war figures. Therefore, I think that those who love our products and sweets buy them despite the war. And some people have discovered BPC in a new way, because we have managed to bring more than one novelty to the market during this time. And as for the military. Since the first days of the war, we took upon ourselves the mission of supplying sweets to the frontline territory. So we wanted to support the guys. And quite unexpectedly, because we did not have such a goal, the fans of our products among the military became much more.
– It seems that coordinating the work of such a large confectionery enterprise could exclude even the physical ability of top management to pay attention to other global projects. However, you actively demonstrate the opposite. Please tell us, do your political and public activities exist separately? Or is it all still connected with BPC?
– Coordinating a large enterprise does require attention. At the start of my activity I was almost round the clock and completely absorbed in the work of the company. Now there are many processes adapted, delegated, properly coordinated, so there is an opportunity, including on the basis of a large enterprise to generate projects that combine both volunteer, political and business activities. Because corporate social responsibility is, in fact, assistance and service to the society in which the company operates. We use the example of foreign enterprises, including the one where I worked for a long period of time, to implement the social component in business, and it is perfectly combined. All the more so because these are values that are in line with and inherent in the BPC company, my personal values, and those of the holding we represent.
By the example of foreign enterprises, we implement the social component into business, and it fits perfectly together
– How do you achieve a balance of time, workload, combination of scientific, political and business activities?
– Balance is, first of all, about prioritization at this or that stage, quality time planning, delegation, as well as implementation of strategic business jumps that really require super attention and super resources. It’s also about experience. It teaches you to be both risk-taking and prudent at the same time, as well as visionary. The company has strategic challenges and objectives for six months, for a quarter, which we as a team, having planned and distributed responsibilities, must achieve. Everyone’s secret of balance may be different, personalized. But I believe that an important prerequisite is to love what you do.
