CEO Today Europe Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 16 CEO Today Europe Awards 2018 cyprus MYKHAILO MERKULOV CEO of ARRICANO REAL ESTATE PLC FIRM PROFILE Arricano Real Estate Plc was incorporated on 31 January 2008 as a company limited by shares under the name Arricano Trading Limited. On 12 September 2012 the name was changed to Arricano Real Estate Plc. The company has declared 2017 as the year of customer experience. For Arricano team, it is very important not only to develop the facilities on a high-quality level, to cooperate with the best partners, improving the tenant mix, but also to work on improving the services’ quality at all levels: in the store, cafe, restaurant, and at all points of the services provided by the shopping mall. Arricano continues the B2B Upgrade by Arricano program, launched in 2016, a series of educational projects for employees of the company’s tenants. The results of regular marketing research conducted by the company indicate the need for the development of a project to train staff and the importance of using other tools to improve customer experience. Arricano company is an active participant in business events in Ukraine and abroad, whose main goal is to improve the investment climate in the country and the reputation of «Ukraine» brand. The CEO and top management of the company openly advocate that transparent business conditions become the standard, and protection of foreign and local investments was a priority for the government of Ukraine. The CSR initiative of Arricano within the Business 2 Students (B2S) project, launched in 2016, was supported by tenants, and in March 2017 the company has launched the third wave of the project, according to the results of which the KNUTE students are able to undergo internships in companies of leading retailers in Ukraine, and also in media companies developing the retail and development sector. 2016 was a service year for Arricano. The importance of the service business model for the company is determined not only by new projects aimed at improving services in all areas of the company, but also at the implementation of the newCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. So, in 2016 Arricano launched a corporate social responsibility project B2S (Business to Students) by Arricano, in which top managers share practical knowledge and experience with students. Maintaining the value of the service business model, Arricano also initiated a CSR project for tenants - a course of lectures and practical training for the staff of the tenants of all shopping centers by the best trainers and practitioners. ABOUT MYKHAILO MERKULOV Mykhailo Merkulov graduated from Romano- Germanic Philology Department of Kharkov State University in 1996, and received an MBA from Manchester Business School in the UK in 2007. Mykhailo has 17 years’ experience across different industries operating in Central and Eastern Europe countries (Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia and Austria). His career started in 1996 when he joined McDonald’s, in Ukraine, where he worked for 9 years on various middle-level and, later, top management positions. After nine years of being with McDonald’s, Mykhailo joined Food Star (Russia) in the capacity of Chief Executive Officer. In 2007 Mykhailo joined Erste Group Immorent AG in Ukraine, a specialist in real estate financing, infrastructure financing and project development, as Managing Director. In 2011 he became Regional Director for the Eastern European Group (Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Slovenia). As of September 8, 2014, Mykhailo Merkulov has been appointed to the position of the Chief Executive Officer of Arricano Real Estate plc and as of 16 April 2015 was appointed to hold the position of the Director of the Board. His competence covers strategic planning and the Company’s business operations control.