DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine, Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) has announced the opening of a new office in the city of Dnipropetrovsk in Eastern Ukraine. The office is IBM's second in the country to date after Kiev and will provide increased support to customers and partners in the region.

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Dnipropetrovsk is a vital industrial center of Ukraine with a number of facilities devoted to heavy industry. In recent years, companies in the region have embarked on a major program of modernization and are increasingly turning to advanced technologies as part of a move to increase operational efficiency and become more competitive on the global stage.

IBM has been present in the Dnipropetrovsk region for over 10 years working through business partners and is already working with a number of clients in the industrial, aerospace, financial and retail sectors. The increased presence will allow IBM to deliver more advanced solutions and services to clients and partners especially in new areas such as cloud computing, business analytics and smarter systems.

"Companies and government organizations across Ukraine are investing in advanced technologies and processes to transform the way they work and do things smarter," said Penko Dinev, Country General Manager, IBM Ukraine. "With our second Ukrainian office we are well positioned to support our clients and partners and ensure that the Dnipropetrovsk region continues to play a strategic role in the economic development of the country."

IBM is working with over 50 universities across Ukraine to support the development of IT skills and to help build capacity for future growth. For example, last year IBM and the National Technical University 'Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute' announced the opening of the first IBM Ukrainian Academic Competence Center to carry out research and development, support the development of top talent and provide the university with the latest training resources.

IBM is actively expanding its operations across Central and Eastern Europe as part of the company's continued geographic expansion initiative to increase its presence in key growth markets and support its global growth strategy. The office in Dnipropetrovsk is IBM's fourteenth to date in the Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region and complements its existing offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Perm, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, Ufa, Kiev, Almaty and Tashkent.

The new office was inaugurated at a ceremony today for clients, partners and government officials in Dnipropetrovsk.

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Contacts
Tatiana Lubimova
IBM Ukraine
Tatiana_Lubimova@ua.ibm.com
+38 067 246 73 43

Alexandra Kisel
IBM Russia/CIS
alex.kisel@ru.ibm.com
+7 903 115-71-91

Jonathan Batty
IBM Growth Markets Unit
Jonathan.batty@pl.ibm.com
+48 69393 5403

SOURCE IBM