Financial modelling for managerial decision-making: workshop at Academic Hub Pivdenny

Pivdenny Bank experts continue to share practical cases and experience with students of the Faculty of Economics at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The third workshop of the spring semester in the course "Managerial Thinking: Modern Approaches and Practices" focused on the topic of financial modelling for managerial decision-making.

Dmytro Votchenko, Director of the Financial Department at Pivdenny Bank, shared his impressions of the workshop with the students.

What did you discuss with students during the workshop?

Together we went through all the stages of building a financial model to analyse a cost optimisation project. I shared my own experience and highlighted essential, though not always obvious, aspects.

This was my second workshop in this course. The previous one covered a more general financial model, focusing on the bank as a whole. This time, I used a real-life project that was practical and easy to understand.

I also introduced a group discussion segment where we explored the concepts of present value and discounting. The discussion was lively, engaging, and insightful.

One of this year’s innovations is the addition of seminars. What will your seminar include, and how will it differ from the workshop?

In the seminar, we’ll be discussing how to prepare a report based on the analysis done during the workshop. Students will learn key principles for preparing presentations, as analytical work loses its value without clear communication of the results. After the workshop, students were assigned homework – using the lecture materials, they were to prepare a report for the bank’s management, recommending a preferred project implementation option with supporting arguments and assumptions.

We are currently looking for promising analysts, so I hope that some of these assignments may lead to future employment. I mentioned this to the students, which significantly increased their motivation and engagement.

What were your expectations going in, and how did they match reality?

I always enjoy engaging with new people and sharing experience, so I looked forward to an exciting and productive session. The outcome exceeded expectations.

It was particularly rewarding to receive so many questions – over an hour after the workshop, we were still discussing with the most curious students. What stood out was their sincerity and genuine thirst for practical experience, which they clearly lack.