Who is Fatih Şahin
Someone who has followed, written about and done business in the Ukrainian market for over twenty years.
Biography
I graduated from an English language high school in Istanbul with a strong focus on science and mathematics. In the autumn of 2004, I moved to Kyiv to study Mechanical Engineering at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI), graduating in 2008.
Ukraine gradually became much more than the country where I studied. I built my professional career here, established businesses here, developed long-term partnerships here and made Kyiv one of the principal centres of my professional life.
Today I am the Founder and CEO of ITAL GLOBAL International Holding Company, an international business group with activities and corporate interests across Ukraine, Turkey, Italy and the United States. My work combines engineering, international trade, industrial projects, investment, business development and cross-border commercial operations.
More than twenty years after first arriving in Kyiv as an engineering student, I continue to follow Ukraine’s economic, political, industrial and business development from the perspective of both an engineer and an entrepreneur.
My transition from engineering into international trade and business development began in 2012, when I became Commercial Director of TEKMAK Machinery Ukraine. I managed the Ukrainian distribution of international road construction machinery brands, worked closely with manufacturers of asphalt plants, concrete batching plants and related equipment, and developed the company’s commercial structure, dealer relationships and market strategy.
That chapter ended during the political and economic upheaval of 2014. For anyone wondering why the entries from 2014 in this archive are unusually extensive: I did not experience that year simply as news. I experienced it through companies, contracts, currencies, logistics, investments and people. In many ways, I read 2014 as a balance sheet.
In the same year, I established a second business in a completely different technical field. EMR Koruma, later developed internationally under the ITAL SHIELD brand, focused on electromagnetic protection, electromagnetic field measurement, radio frequency measurement, EMI and EMC engineering, electromagnetic shielding and related engineering solutions. The company became an authorised distributor of YSHIELD GmbH of Germany. I later expanded these activities to Italy under the ITAL SHIELD name and have continued working professionally in the fields of electromagnetic compatibility and shielding engineering.
In 2015, I completed advanced professional training in EMI, EMC and Radio Frequency Engineering with TONEX in Texas, United States. This field remains an important part of my technical work and professional interests, and also supports my activities and investments in the defence sector.
In March 2017, I founded ITAL Machinery in Ukraine and have managed the company ever since. Our work covers the international supply and distribution of road construction machinery and industrial equipment, including procurement, customs procedures, international transportation, installation, commissioning, technical coordination and after-sales support.
Between 2019 and 2022, ITAL Machinery achieved approximately 40 percent market share in Ukraine’s asphalt plant sector, with a record portfolio of 58 installed plants. This period established the company as one of the leading suppliers of asphalt production technology in the Ukrainian market.
There is a simple reason why customs procedures, logistics, international contracts, technical specifications and delivery schedules occupy so much space in this archive. They are not theoretical subjects for me. They are part of my working day.
In June 2022, I founded ITAL GLOBAL International Holding Company to bring our expanding international activities under a broader corporate structure. Today my responsibilities include strategic planning, international business development, financial oversight, contract negotiations, supplier and partner relations, investment strategy, project coordination and the development of new markets.
Through ITAL GLOBAL Holding we undertake international projects involving road construction machinery, asphalt and bitumen technologies, industrial equipment, engineering, procurement, real estate investment, international trade, supply and export operations. Our activities extend across Ukraine, Turkey, Italy, the United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other international markets, with Kyiv serving as a central coordination point for many of our operations.
Alongside my professional work, I returned to formal education and completed my MBA at KSE Graduate Business School in Kyiv in 2025. I am also currently pursuing a PhD alongside my professional activities.
More than twenty years after first arriving in Kyiv as an engineering student, I found myself in the same city, this time looking at business, economics and leadership from the other side of the classroom.
Professional Affiliations
My professional affiliations and memberships have included FIDIC, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, through a member company; IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, since 2010; TMMOB, the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects, since 2009; the European Business Association; and TUSIB, the Turkish Ukrainian Industrialists and Businessmen Association.
I also serve with pride as President of the International Association of Entrepreneurs of Ukraine (IEAU), where I work to support entrepreneurship, international cooperation and stronger connections between Ukrainian businesses and the global business community.
Languages
Turkish is my native language. I also speak English, Ukrainian and russian fluently.
Working across these languages has been an important part of my professional life. It allows me to work directly with manufacturers, engineers, government institutions, business partners and clients across different countries and cultures.
Why This Website Exists
There is one principal reason I maintain this website. Much of what twenty years in international business teaches you is information that rarely appears in textbooks.
- Which regulation is actually enforced?
- Which agreement works in practice and which remains only on paper?
- Why does one customs clearance take three days while another takes a month?
- Why does a technically excellent project fail commercially?
- How do you evaluate a foreign supplier, enter a new market, negotiate an international contract or understand the real risks behind an apparently simple transaction?
Over the years, my notes on these subjects accumulated. Eventually, those notes became an archive.
This website is where I collect selected observations from engineering, international trade, entrepreneurship, Ukraine, industrial development, management and the practical realities of conducting business across borders.
Writing, Philosophy and Philanthropy
My interests extend beyond engineering and business. I am currently preparing several books exploring philosophy, symbolism, esoteric traditions and the questions that have occupied human thought for centuries.
I believe that professional experience has greater value when it can be transferred to others. As part of my philanthropic and educational work, I am also developing practical business guides intended to help future entrepreneurs understand international trade, company building, negotiation, market entry and the realities of starting and developing a business.
Business has taught me how to build. Engineering has taught me how to understand systems. Twenty years of international experience has taught me that the most valuable knowledge is often the knowledge that someone is willing to share.
That is what I intend this website to do.
Contact
For professional enquiries, cooperation or correspondence, you can reach me through my official social media profiles:
For direct correspondence: fatih@sahin.net
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