Certified International Professional Accountant – Certificate Award Ceremony

In his welcoming remarks to the attendees of CIPA Certificate award ceremony, Mission Director Earl Gast said that USAID is honored and proud to have supported this program for the last several years, enabling over 2,300 Ukrainians to receive their training, and become certified as international public accountants and accounting practitioners.  He recognized how arduous this training has been for the course participants, and commended their willingness to devote their spare time to attending the classes, and taking the exams. Mr.  Gast mentioned further that USAID continues to support Ukraine in its efforts to achieve better transparency of accounting and financial reporting systems, recognizing that, as their first concern, both international and domestic investors look at these data when making a decision to invest (or not to invest) in a country, or a particular business.  Therefore, USAID encourages Ukrainian government to take the last remaining steps towards implementation of international financial reporting standards that will more accurately reflect financial and operational performance of Ukrainian companies.   With the same considerations in mind, USAID’s support to CIPA is guided by two distinct objectives.  On the one hand, it should be instrumental in adopting international standards, and is designed to create a critical mass of people in the accounting profession, who would be ready to implement and use them.  On the other hand, the assistance should leave behind a sustainable professional association in Ukraine that will continue to improve this environment. Mr.  Gast spoke favorably of the recent trends in Ukraine’s business sector, where more and more companies are taking the initiative in adopting international accounting and reporting standards, even without being urged to do so by the government.  This also contributes to a higher demand for skilled certified accountants, so in the next few years Ukraine can expect a real boom in this profession. USAID Mission Director extended his congratulations to all newly certified CIPA trainees, and took part in giving out the certificates.