The representatives of the first periodical publication about scientometrics in Ukraine "Science and Metrics" talked with the founder of the holding companies "Scientific Alliance" Denys Pylypenko. The conversation was about the following: war and the work organization in a critical situation, competitors, company's expansion, international cooperation, scientific journals and plans for the future.
Denis, what was the first thing you did as the owner of a holding of companies on the first day of a full-scale invasion? Was your company ready for war?
It can be said that a full-scale invasion was a suddenness, but at the same time, it was an expected event. However, I personally completely refused to believe it, as probably most people did. Moreover, we have even described a plan of action for employees in case an attack occurs. It was also drawn up a personal plan to primarily ensure the safety for relatives, close people, all employees and the company as a whole.
On the first day, when we woke up to the sound of explosions, all employees were told to stay at home or go to a safe place, if possible. The company's work was suspended for a while so that everyone could protect themselves.
The majority decided to leave the capital and move out. I took my family to the West of our country. On the way, I was in direct communication with employees almost all the time, initiated the maximum advance payment of salaries, as well as organized transfer service with other owners of the company for those who were not able to move out on their own.
When we found ourselves in a safe place in the West of Ukraine, we had to equip our life so that we could live there and work in the future. We temporarily rented an office to restore the work activities. After that, we organized a full-fledged relocation for employees and their families.
What plans were violated due to the outbreak of hostilities?
Like many other companies, we annually form a strategy in advance. At the end of last year, we prepared a new global development plan for the company for 2022, but for well-known reasons it had to be redesigned to fit the new realities. In fact, the creation of a scientific hub was one of the projects. This would allow us to globally unite all companies, offices and departments. The hub was supposed to become the headquarters of the entire Scientific Alliance holding. The construction was planned on the territory of the Pecherskyi district of Kyiv, where all the necessary preparatory work had been carried out in advance.
In addition to this, we wanted to create an innovative space with all the necessary equipment that would act as a research and development center.
We planned to provide the necessary resources and tools, full access to research, including the closed-type research, access to databases of Scopus, Web of Science, and many other things that researchers need to work effectively.
You mentioned above that you moved to the West of Ukraine with your team, tell us more about these events.
In the first few days of the war, the positions of each employee regarding the future location were determined in the process of communication, consultations concerning their plans were held, whether it was possible or necessary for them to move.
Many decided to go to the Transcarpathian region, where we organized a temporary office and housing. Those who decided to stay in Kyiv or go to another safe place were provided with everything necessary for remote work.
I especially would like to thank and praise our employees from foreign branches. They understood the complexity of the situation and assumed the responsibilities of fulfillment of all duties, as well as restrained emotional outbursts among customers. The Kazakh and other subsidiaries of our company worked without interruption, while we were engaged in moving to a safe place. This played an important role in the soonest renewal of the work of the parent office.
What is the current policy of the company towards russia?
The fact is that before the full-scale war, citizens of the russian federation were listed as co-authors in many scientific works. Nevertheless, when hostilities broke out, we made an ideological decision not to support the aggressor country. We understand that, perhaps, there are adequate people, but unfortunately, the majority of the population on the territory of the russian federation supports these events, which is completely contrary to our national interests. Accordingly, this is a normal defensive reaction – to stop any kind of communication with them. We have stated our position very clear.
In addition, the development of our charitable foundation was one of the strategic plans for 2022. Previously, it was aimed to help those in need. However, in connection with the current situation, we have transformed the goals and plans for the development of the fund. Now, it is working at full capacity and a certain percentage from each commercial service that we provide is sent to a special savings account. After that, these funds are remitted to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteers who buy everything necessary for our soldiers, as well as displaced persons.
How is the work of the Scientific Alliance carried out now?
The natural reaction of any business that faces difficulties within the geography or country where it is located is to try to find customers. And we are no exception. One of the priorities of the company's policy has become the need to strengthen the international vector of cooperation with countries in which our services are in demand. Our reputation is really solid in many countries, and we are seriously working on it. For now, I can note with great pride that in a fairly short period of time, we have managed to significantly expand our work with scientists not only from Ukraine and Kazakhstan, but also in those markets in which we were not so strong before. Now, the company began to receive clients from countries that we had not even thought about working with them before, for example, Mongolia. In addition, the clients from the following countries actively appear: Jordan, Vietnam, Japan, the USA and the countries of the European Union.
What changes have occurred in the company "Scientific Publications Ukraine"?
Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of hostilities, the deadlines for the implementation of some projects have shifted by 1-2 months, as they fell out of the technological processes.
The clients reacted with understanding, and it was nice to see that they come to our office again.
People cease to be afraid, and despite the hostilities, they treat this as a new phase of life, a new reality, in which we have to live now.
Based on the fact that our services have not become less in demand and an active increase in clients from other countries has begun, there is an urgent need to increase the staff.
Initially, we doubted whether it was worth expanding the staff of Scientific Publications in such realities, because there was no clarity with staff members and further developments, but most of the employees supported us. This decision was correct, many specialists have been trained and they are already participating in our projects.
In addition, the launch of a subbranch in Lviv became one of the elements of our expansion. To date, most scientists have moved there, as they had to escape from the military aggression from other regions. Moreover, the demand of scientists who traditionally order our services has intensified recently. And accordingly, many clients, regardless of whether they have worked with us before or not, want to come to the office, ask questions, perhaps dispel their fears, make sure of our competence and receive a high-quality consulting, high-quality service. At the moment, the director of the company "Scientific Publications Ukraine" is in Lviv and he represents the interests of our company there.
A question for you, as an expert: what is now happening in the scientific consulting market?
I divide scientific consulting into two conditional types. The first type is companies that provide consulting services and practical assistance in the implementation of scientific tasks. Our company is also among them. We do not just say what needs to be done, we are not the kind of people who will give you recommendations from books or articles on the Internet, we really perform tasks of absolutely any complexity. The second type of companies are offices that simply consult, run blogs, tell how to do something, but in the practical part, many of them do not even know what a proper scientific article looks like. These people just want to do some kind of business in order to get rich.
Of course, we are a commercial organization, but without meeting the needs and without the fact that our client will receive the necessary service, we do not consider ourselves entitled to take money if we cannot fulfill this need. Unfortunately, there is a decrease in the number of companies that tried to follow the first path, namely to consult and provide practical assistance. Many companies began to dilute their activities with a non-core type of work: making websites, consulting in various business areas, etc. I believe, this is the first sign that there is something wrong with such companies, they are just trying to make money on everything they can, and moreover, it is not a guarantee that the implementation will be at the proper level.
Did the current events in Ukraine somehow influence the international activities of your company?
In Ukraine, we can now really observe the problems with jobs and scientific activity in general. Many teachers have been transferred to half the rate, and part of the scientific and pedagogical staff of universities and institutes is sent on vacation at their own expense. The situation is really difficult and we understand their frustration. Nevertheless, the situation begins to stabilize gradually, everything returns to its previous course.
Regarding the international activity, I will continue on the example of Kazakhstan. This is a very important market for us, in which we have been represented for a long time. We have clients who went to defend their scientific works with our support, and many of them already have scientific degrees, titles and high positions. They went through a long career path together with our company, and we are excited about this. They continue to be our customers, by providing the central office that is engaged in the implementation of projects. For now, this seriously contributes to the development of the Ukrainian branch, among other things.
We decided to take over one of the most serious competitors in Central Asia, namely the “World Sci Publ”. By agreement, this competitor ends all its activities simultaneously with our purchase of a part of the assets of this company, directly in Kazakhstan. This deal was closed, we gave all clients favorable conditions for the transition to us, because not all obligations were implemented by that company. I am not judging them, I simply state the fact – they encountered difficulties and decided to cut their business at a certain point. In my opinion, they left the scientific consulting market with dignity.
In addition, we are actively working on opening branches in other countries. Now, a strategy is being developed, an analysis of regulatory documents is being carried out, negotiations are underway with scientific organizations and publications to fully understand the publication process in specific countries. Priority areas have already been identified and they will be implemented in the near future.
We'll be looking forward to it! There is one more question of interest to our editorial board: how have recent events influenced the activities of the “Scientific Journals” company?
"Scientific Journals" remains on the list of priority areas, because quality publications are the basis of successful publications.
The withdrawal of the journal became a surprise for us, as we supported it for quite a long time, including the period before its inclusion in the international database. We took on it when it was significant among legal publications in Ukraine, but completely unknown on the world stage. Accordingly, it was an unpleasant event when the international Scopus database stopped indexing it. Two reasons were announced, which seemed to be very ambiguous in my opinion. The first one – insufficient citation, the second one – insufficient number of foreigners in the editorial board. However, our team worked with this journal and we found out that the editorial board of the journal was more geographically impoverished before inclusion in the database, rather than after the start of its indexing. The number of international scientists as a members of the editorial board increased, and the number of citations increased significantly. As a result, the journal that improved all its indicators within two years of indexing was excluded for reasons that became totally incomprehensible for me. It is noteworthy that in the same month, three russian journals with disproportionately less number of foreigners and citations were included in the Scopus database. We were shocked by this fact and began to investigate this incident. It is possible that there are people with an open pro-russian position in the commission that works with publications, and this can negatively affect science. We are supporters of the point of view that science, first of all, should not be subject to political currents. Based on the fact that then the Ukrainian journals, including those ones that we contributed to, were successfully included in the databases, we want to believe and see signs that our opinion has been listened to, and such controversial situations will not arise in the future.
Let's hope this doesn't happen again. Denys, now we would like to mention one interesting event. You have recently become the laureate of the most prestigious award in our country – “Person of the Year” in the “New Generation of the Year” nomination, which was postponed to autumn due to the outbreak of war. Tell us about it, please.
Indeed, at the end of 2021, I was nominated for this award, which became a joyous event. As it seems to me, I had the chance and wanted to win this nomination. It was relevant and important because I fought for social attention among people who are close to my orbit of activity, – these are businessmen, public media people and scientific figures. Now, in my opinion, the military, medical workers and volunteers are deservedly in the spotlight, because these people perform heroic deeds, while we are just doing business. Certainly, we pay taxes and provide financial support in every possible way so that they are provided with everything they need. Surely, if I am awarded this year, I will not refuse it, because the team and I have really achieved a lot. However, I consider other people to be the true heroes, and thanks to them, we are still alive and have the opportunity to continue working.
What life principles help you realize all your ideas?
The main life principles that guide me are reflected in our corporate culture – always help your friends and never stop there.
What are the company's plans for the end of the year?
For the most part, this year will be dedicated to rebuilding a holistic picture of all the elements that have been shattered by the war. Now, we are setting up all directions, making sure that hostilities do not affect our projects and clients, regardless of where they are – in Kyiv, Almaty, Tirana, Baku or other cities and countries. In this context, the year will be dedicated to generating the maximum number of productive ideas that will be of practical value and benefit both for the scientists and the company, and they will allow us to become more automated, more stable.
And finally, what would you like to say to all our readers?
I have a heightened sense of justice since childhood, and now, it hurts me to look at the fact that imperialist war of occupation are tried to be covered up with all possible names and cliche in the form of fascism, in the form of a threat to the russian language. I want everything to end as soon as possible and without territorial losses for Ukraine. I know that victory will definitely be ours and I urge everyone to actively contribute to bring the victory closer!
