“Kyiv Post – more experience, more journalists, and more readers than any other English-language publication in Ukraine.”
When I looked through the archives dating back to the 1990s, this in-house advertising of the Kyiv Post caught my attention.
The Kyiv Post has been defending the values of independent journalism, rare in Ukraine, since 1995. These core principles have earned us the trust of the community. This is why we have long-term advertisers and partners who do not influence editorial decisions with their financial support. They respect our ethics. They respect independent journalism and that’s why we’re still here today.
From the humble start with the first printed edition on Oct. 18, 1995, the Kyiv Post has attracted a well-educated, highly professional audience — given us a strong competitive advantage and sound business strategy.
Team with a mission
The commercial team of the newspaper has always been driven by the mission and the realization that the Kyiv Post and its editorial standards are crucial for Ukraine’s ability to advance as a free and democratic nation.
This year we celebrate our 25th anniversary. We owe tremendous gratitude to our publisher, Odesa businessman Adnan Kivan, for generous financial support, without which we’d have a much smaller operation than the 50 people we have today. Still, we are proud that we generate a big part of our revenue through advertising, subscriptions, supplements and events, such as conferences, as well as grants.
We have to evolve along with the rest of the media industry.
New initiatives
In 2012, we started organizing the annual Tiger Conference, canceled this year because of COVID‑19.
The 5th annual Top 30 under 30 Awards has moved to an online format this year for the same reason — the growing pandemic — and is now scheduled for Nov. 24.
We’ve published special print supplements — Doing Business, Legal Quarterly and Real Estate.
We’ve organized events that serve as independent discussion platforms like Straight Talk and CEO Breakfasts that gather leaders in politics and business to discuss hot topics off the record.
We also found there’s a need for high-quality, custom advertising in the English language. So last year, the newspaper launched its Brand Studio initiative, which has attracted several top-name clients, including Naftogaz Ukraine.
And we’ve got other initiatives. One of them was an e-book on the EuroMaidan Revolution that ended Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency in 2014.
Another that we are particularly proud of is a book in partnership with Porsche Ukraine on talented young Ukrainians.
Free Press Foundation
We’ve established a non-profit organization, the Free Press Foundation, to gain support from international donors in advancing our mission, allowing us to provide greater in-depth coverage of elections, attacks on journalists, and Ukraine’s ecology. I am the co-founder and CEO of the organization.
Print newspaper advertising remains king, even in a digital world, comprising at least 30 percent of our revenue.
But a look back at the fat newspapers of the 1990s shows that print advertising is not what it used to be in the pre-internet, pre-Google, pre-Facebook and pre-Twitter era.
The Kyiv Post employment section sometimes had eight full pages of paid advertising and was so big that, for about a year, it had its own supplement.
Ukraine was thought to be the next hot investment destination — and still is regarded that way by some businesspeople. So the pages were brimming with layouts of restaurants, hotels, airlines and mobile phone services.
If we could hold an in-person gala for the 25th birthday, like we did for the 20th anniversary, we’d honor again the companies that have stayed with us through thick and thin.
Advertising is the fuel
The top 10 awards for support of independent journalism would go to these companies: Winner, Naftogaz, Kyivstar, Redcliffe Partners, Turkish Airlines, GOLAW, Credit Agricole, Rhenus, AGS and DTEK.
Advertising is the fuel of free enterprise and a free press.
This motto is framed and placed in a prominent place at the Kyiv Post office. Advertisers know that by supporting independent journalism, they support also a stable, economically strong, democratic and inclusive Ukraine.
Alyona Nevmerzhytska is the Kyiv Post’s commercial director.
