WASHINGTON, D.C. -  The U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) presented its first ever Distinguished Service Award (DSA) to Michael Bleyzer, Founder and President, SigmaBleyzer, at a dinner last week in Washington, D.C., which included six top Ukrainian government officials from Kyiv and the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States. The event was held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel. 

The first ever such USUBC award was given to Bleyzer for his outstanding contribution, over the past 20 years, to the economic and business development of Ukraine, to the development of the SigmaBleyzer private equity management firm, to the significant membership growth of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) and to the prosperity of the people of Ukraine.

US CONGRESSWOMAN ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, spoke at the dinner and recognized the contributions made by Michael Bleyzer to Ukraine. The Congresswomen said, "I have known Michael for several years and been aware of his most outstanding work to assist his homeland Ukraine develop as a strong, independent, democratic and prosperous country under the rule of law and a private market economy. It is my pleasure to be with you this evening and see Michael receive this well deserved award. I offer my personal congratulations to Michael."

'The United States has strongly supported the people of Ukraine. Ukraine is a very important country and the United States has a strategic partnership with Ukraine," stated Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen. "I am sure through the work of the over 195 members of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) and especially members like SigmaBleyzer, Ukraine will grow and become a prosperous nation and at the same time strengthen its democratic institutions and the rule of law."

UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT DELEGATION
Presentations will be made at the dinner by the six members of the Ukrainian government high-level delegation: (1) Sergiy Arbuzov, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine; (2) Ihor Kaletnik, Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine; (3) Oleksandr Klymenko, Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine; (4) Yuriy Kolobov, Minister of Finance of Ukraine; (5)  Mykola Prysyazhnyuk, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and (6) Eduard Stavytskyi, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine. The working dinner with the Ukrainian delegation was sponsored by ExxonMobil, SigmaBleyzer and Cargill. 

USUBC RESOLUTION HONORING MICHAEL BLEYZER

Patrick Sweet, President, SASI,. (Sweet Analysis Services Inc), a long-time member of USUBC, who serves as the USUBC Secretary-Treasurer and a member of the Executive Committee read the following USUBC resolution:

'On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), representing the over 195 members, I hereby certify the following resolution was approved by unanimous vote of the USUBC executive committee:

WHEREAS: Michael Bleyzer was born in Kharkiv, Soviet Ukraine, and as a young college student began dreaming about what life could be in a democratic country where one could develop and use their gifts and talents in a creative, positive way;

WHEREAS: Michael Bleyzer soon decided he wanted to live in the United States and started working on a plan to move to the U.S.  After several tough and difficult years Michael, his wife Natasha, and their small daughter, left for the U.S. in late 1978;

WHEREAS: The Bleyzer family soon landed in Houston, Texas, with only a few suitcases and no funds. Bleyzer quickly developed a highly successful career with Exxon for over 12 years and then with Ernst & Young;

WHEREAS: In the early 1990's Michael and his brother Lev, decided to end all of their business activities in the US and open an office in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to work in their motherland in the field of economic and business development;

WHEREAS:  From 1995-1997 Michael and Lev founded, with a partner from Kharkiv, Valery Dema, the SigmaBleyzer private equity management firm and raised $100 million in private equity capital totally from private sources.  Seventeen years later SigmaBleyzer manages almost one billion dollars of private equity capital;

WHEREAS:  In 2001 The Bleyzer Foundation was created as an economic think tank to assist in the economic development of Ukraine and later the DAAR Foundation was organized by the Bleyzer family to implement educational, cultural and humanitarian projects in Ukraine; 

WHEREAS:  In 2001 SigmaBleyzer became a member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) and believed a large and effective business council was needed in Washington, D.C. to be a strong international voice for business in Ukraine.  Since 2007 SigmaBleyzer has been the largest corporate sponsor of USUBC and has watched USUBC grow from 20 members to almost 200 members;

THEREFORE: The U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), on behalf of its membership, presents Michael Bleyzer with the first ever U.S.-UKRAINE BUSINESS COUNCIL (USUBC) DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD (DSA). USUBC offers its special thanks and best wishes to Michael Bleyzer.

SIGNED:  Patrick Sweet, USUBC Secretary-Treasurer; Member, USUBC Executive Committee Washington, D.C., Thursday, September 20, 2012. 

COMPANIES/ORGANIZATIONS IN ATTENDANCE

Companies and organizations in attendance at the dinner included: Amway Corporation; BBC; Boeing; Bunge; Broad Street Capital Group; Citi bank; Cola-Cola; CSIS; Cub Energy; DuPont; Embassy of Ukraine to the United States; ExxonMobil; First International Resources; GlobalLogic; Harmelia agricultural company; Heller & Rosenblatt; Intel; McDonald's; Monsanto; National Bank of Ukraine; National Defense University; Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC): Pioneer; Philip Morris International; SC Johnson; SigmaBleyzer; The Bleyzer Foundation; The Heritage Foundation; Ukraine ExIm Bank; United States ExIm Bank; Ukrinform; US Department of State; U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC); USTR; VISA, VOA; Zeppelin Ukraine (Caterpillar). The working dinner with the Ukrainian government delegation was sponsored by ExxonMobil, SigmaBleyzer and Cargill.