Symphony Solutions - fast growing European organization with its headquarters based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Company provides Western European clients with high quality IT, BPO and Consultancy services. Having the delivery centers based in Eastern Europe, clients automatically leverage all the significant benefits that Global Sourcing could provide.
Theo Schnitfink, director of the Symphony Solutions, kindly agreed to be interviewed by Lviv Investment Office representative.
Journalist: Why did you choose to start business in Ukraine and in Lviv?
Theo Schnitfink: 6 years ago I was choosing from multiple cities and countries in Eastern Europe. Ukraine was interesting because: European people don’t need a visa to travel, that makes it easier, and Ukraine at that time seemed to be the most democratic country from the North-East Countries. Of course I had no idea about political mess that Ukraine was in and corruption that I found out later.
I had full restrictions and conditions: I wanted to have international airport and I wanted to have great universities. Thus there are only five cities left in Ukraine outside Kyiv: four in the East and only one (Lviv) in the West.
Lviv is the most western city and also culturally close to Western Europe and this makes it easier for my clients to work with people here. The second thing was the support I got from Investment Office in Lviv and from City Mayor Andriy Sadovyi.
I met the Mayor and Serhiy Kiral, who is now a parliament member, and they were very active to promote the city and provide me with support. That gave me a lot of trust to say “OK, Lviv will be the city of my choiсe”, according to my personal feelings, because from all the cities I visited I found Lviv the most beautiful and I felt very comfortable in Lviv, so it was a good choice.“ Lviv is the most western city and also culturally close to Western Europe and this makes it easier for my clients to work with people here. The second thing was the support I got from Investment Office in Lviv and from City Mayor.
Journalist: Are most of your employees from Lviv? How many foreigners work at Symphony Solutions?
Theo Schnitfink: It’s almost exclusively Ukrainian people and we have few people from outside Ukraine.
Journalist: Your office has a very beautiful and unusual interior. Whose idea was it?
Theo Schnitfink: It was my idea partly, but we did it at the end with a lot of help from other people, architect and colleagues.
Journalist: What are your expansion plans?
Theo Schnitfink: First we just expanded our office here, to nearly hundred people. We also have offices in Poland and Macedonia. So we are not only in Ukraine already.
