orge Zukoski heads up the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Ukraine, headquartered in Kiev. Sporting over 500 members, mostly big international players, the group is the most vital and successful business organization in the country.

Zukoski first encountered the region as a Peace Corps volunteer, one of the MBA’s recruited to the post-Soviet world to help create a market economy, and worked there under the U.S. Agency for International Development. When the opportunity with the chamber opened, the post was a good enough fit to be there a dozen years now.

The business group occupies an important vantage point for observing the trajectory of business development in Ukraine. Beyond representing international companies from over 50 nations, collectively responsible for the majority of foreign investment, it works to widen the path for potential new investors seeking entrance to the Ukraine market.

The Chamber draws upon the hard-won expertise of its members, who comprise the largest strategic and institutional investors as well as their service providers. They’ve formed a wide variety of highly engaged, specialized committees and working groups. As a result, there’s little that goes on in Ukraine that catches the membership unaware.

“Our members actually drive the budget of Ukraine, given the tax revenues we provide,” says Zukoski. “We do the right thing in our efforts to be compliant.”

The group advocates on behalf of its membership to protect their interests and to keep the business environment evolving “toward a blind nationality of capital, and for all companies operating on a clear and level playing field.” Zukoski’s group promotes Ukraine as an investment destination. It provides “an invaluable networking platform in a young country, where information common in developed markets is scarce or not available.

“As with any nation new to contemporary commerce,” says Zukoski, “the business learning curve can be a steep and expensive one. This environment is all about relationships.

“Relationships have to be carefully managed,” says Zukoski, “both on the political side and on the business side. We work to develop the best practices in any given area so people in the same sphere, or in other spheres, can understand what tactics have been successful for common issues. And we provide access to government decision makers.” After being in Ukraine since independence, Zukoski is confident he has the relationships to navigate the environment.

The Chamber’s 38 staff members focus primarily on policy. A current project is the creation of the first comprehensive tax code in the nation’s independent history. Other efforts in progress include an accounting platform consistent with international norms, a new customs code and a new construction code that streamlines the permit process. The policy board currently has 167 objectives under way.

“The tax code has been a long-term project,” says Zukoski. “Most of what we want is in it, and we hope to have it signed by the end of the year. Unlike groups in the States, we never argue about rates, corporate or individual. We’re focused on the administration of laws – that they be done in a fair and transparent manner. For example, a difference in rates for Ukrainian citizens and foreign workers is not acceptable. We don’t mind a sliding scale, but it must be the same for everyone. The tax code will be a big win.”

Such grand efforts are not unprecedented, says Zukoski. “We wrote the legislation that enables the foreign banking and financial services sector to exist here – the law on mortgages, the law on credit bureaus, all that. We asked the banks what they needed to succeed here, and worked with experts to develop the legislative base, lobbying it through with cabinet members, the president’s administration and the relevant departments. It was an incredible amount of work.”

“But now foreign bank investors are prominent, resulting in the investment of many billions in Ukraine that would otherwise be lacking. We also built inroads for insurance companies, creating the reliability of annuity payments that allows them to function.” In the wake of the financial crisis, Zukoski’s group is also working to restore lending to local companies and households.

One irritation to Zukoski is the popular perception of a pro-Russian tilt by the new administration. “That’s the result of lazy journalism, sound bites that morph into a broad paintbrush, and it’s not true,” says Zukoski. “This isn’t a stop-and-start football game; these guys are chess players on multiple boards at once. At the end of the day, the pro-Russian assumption falls apart. Ukrainians are looking out for their own country, not someone else’s.”