Synektik is beginning operational activity on the Ukrainian market. A local company and team have already been established in Ukraine to handle sales and service. Training for Ukrainian doctors and medical staff is to be conducted in Poland and the Czech Republic. Over the next two years, Synektik plans to install around 20 da Vinci robotic systems in Ukraine.
The move into Ukraine became possible thanks to an agreement signed in February with Intuitive Surgical, the manufacturer of da Vinci robotic systems. The agreement expanded the territorial scope of Synektik Group’s exclusive distribution of Intuitive Surgical products to include another market — Ukraine.
“Ukraine is another natural, large market for us. In terms of population — excluding currently occupied territories, meaning the area where business can actually be conducted today — it has nearly 30 million inhabitants, making it comparable to Poland. The penetration of robotic surgery there is still at an early stage, while observed demand can be described as strong. At the same time, we are entering at a moment when the discussion about whether robotic surgery is needed has long been settled. We are already hosting Ukrainian doctors in Poland who want to learn about our systems and gain their first experience. This is an important signal for us that the market is ready,” said Cezary Kozanecki, founder and CEO of Synektik.
Synektik has been working with Intuitive Surgical on the Polish market continuously since 2018, where da Vinci robotic systems have become an important element of modern surgery. Since 2022, the Group has also been the exclusive distributor of these systems in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and in 2024 the cooperation was expanded to include Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Entering Ukraine is another step in building a strong regional platform for the distribution of advanced medical technologies. Ultimately, Synektik wants to be present in Ukraine with its full portfolio of technologies. The company will soon make available its complete offer of surgical robots and digital solutions, including telementoring and teleproctoring.
Local presence, international support
According to Synektik, despite the ongoing war, Ukraine’s healthcare market — both private and public — continues to operate efficiently, while logistics remain functional. However, the specific situation in the country requires a different organisational approach than in the other markets where the company is already present.
In Ukraine, Synektik will operate through a local company with a Ukrainian team, which will be gradually expanded as further installations are completed. At the same time, the company’s existing training centres in Poland and the Czech Republic will be used to train Ukrainian doctors and medical staff.
“The local model is crucial for us for two reasons. First, under wartime conditions, we assume that seconding employees from Poland or other countries may face obvious limitations. Second, tender procedures in Ukraine are settled in the local currency and favour entities registered locally. Operational presence in Ukraine is therefore a practical necessity for us,” Kozanecki explained.
A market comparable to Poland
Synektik believes that the pace of development of the Ukrainian surgical robotics market in the coming years may be similar to, or even higher than, the growth previously seen in other countries in the region.
“Our plan assumes around 20 installations of da Vinci robotic systems in Ukraine over the next two years. For comparison, in Poland, where we have represented Intuitive for seven years, we will have 100 da Vinci robots installed by the end of June, and more than 140 across the entire region. Our ambition is for Ukraine, like Poland or the Baltic countries, to become a market where we provide not only robots, but also training, service and robotic instruments. This part of the business generates recurring revenues, which already account for more than 50% of our group’s sales,” Kozanecki said.
Three complementary sources of financing
According to Synektik, purchases of medical equipment in Ukraine may be financed from three complementary sources. The first is the state budget. The second, equally important source is the private sector, where — as in Poland and other markets — readiness to adopt and intensively use modern medical technologies is high.
“We see that private facilities are the fastest to introduce new technologies. They are strongly motivated to attract patients and expect installed equipment to start working quickly and intensively. It was similar in Poland, where we began our expansion with da Vinci robots precisely from the private sector,” Kozanecki commented.
The third source of financing, specific to Ukraine, consists of aid funds for reconstruction and support for the healthcare system, as well as some defence programmes. Some of these also cover reconstructive surgery and battlefield medicine needs — areas in which the technologies offered by Synektik have real practical application.
