“Lobbying and Advocacy”: a training program for lobbyists was presented in Kyiv
On October 6, 2025, the National Association of Lobbyists of Ukraine presented the training program “Lobbying and Advocacy. The Art of Influencing Public Policy”. The event took place during the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Association at the UNIAN press center.
The program aims to create a system of professional training for lobbying specialists, and to set standards for ethical and transparent interaction between business, government, and civil society.
Formation of a professional community of lobbyists
Oleksiy Shevchuk, PhD in Law, a doctoral student at the Ukrainian Free University (Munich) and V. Koretsky Institute of State and Law, noted during the press conference that the Ukrainian National Lobbyists Association has united the best specialists in the field of advocacy and lobbying.
“We are creating a self-regulatory professional community that will set new standards of fair lobbying. This is a future profession with a separate code of economic activity and high ethical requirements,” Shevchuk emphasized.
He also emphasized that the Association has created a Board of Trustees with an open opportunity for higher education institutions, both Ukrainian and foreign, to join.
Unique training program
Iryna Shapovalova, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian National Lobbyists Association, noted that such courses do not yet exist in Ukraine:
“No Ukrainian university offers a course in lobbying. The introduction of this program is a unique opportunity to acquire a new modern profession, to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to build a democratic state of the European model.”
Program structure
Lyudmyla Kozhura, Doctor of Law, Professor, Director of the Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University Law Institute, said that the training course consists of 90 hours and is divided into seven modules.
The first module is devoted to the history and essence of lobbying, the second to the practices of the EU, the US and the UK, the third to the structure of government, and the fourth to the legal framework for lobbying in Ukraine. Separate modules cover professional ethics, lobbying campaign planning, and tools for influencing public policy.
Serhiy Lysenko, Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, added that the program combines legal, management and international disciplines.
“This is not just a lecture, but a full-fledged course with the possibility of obtaining a certificate of advanced training. Once the professional lobbyist standard is adopted, such documents will be recognized by the state,” he said.
Higher School of Lobbying – a center of knowledge and practice
Rustam Kolesnyk, CEO of Yuridicheskaya Practika, emphasized that the establishment of the Higher School of Lobbying is aimed at becoming a single center of expertise in the field of lobbying:
“There are a lot of issues that everyone is currently solving on their own. We want to create a single center that will become an authoritative platform for training, analysis and development of the lobbying profession in Ukraine.”
Participants of the event
The meeting of the Board of Trustees was attended by leading scientists and experts:
Oleksiy Shevchuk, Iryna Shapovalova, Serhiy Kharytonov, Serhiy Lysenko, Yana Tsymbalenko, Liudmyla Kozhura, Denys Hryzoglazov, Rustam Kolesnyk, and Vitaliia Hloba.
