Ukrainian companies that have been established or expanded in Central Europe following Russia’s invasion in early 2022 are shifting their focus from primarily refugee to native clients as they turn into extra settled, with some now eyeing a transfer additional west.
As the conflict closed off alternatives at dwelling and to the east, together with Russia, Ukrainian-owned companies sprang up in neighboring nations, initially focusing on their displaced compatriots with meals, drink and providers.
In Poland, which has a Ukrainian inhabitants swelled by the conflict to greater than 1.5 million at present estimates, Ukrainians opened each tenth new business in 2024, in keeping with Polish business associations and economists.
Andrii Halytskyi’s Lviv Croissants now has 12 retailers in Poland after launching there two years in the past. It opened its first Czech outlet in October, a part of what its founder says is a method to construct a geographically numerous business by increasing westward and past the diaspora.
“While the Ukrainian refugee community in Europe is significant, relying solely on this customer base is not a sustainable long-term strategy,” Halytskyi instructed Reuters.
Strong cultural similarities with Ukraine have helped make Poland a pure base for Ukrainian companies. But many are additionally trying past rising Europe’s largest financial system to a a lot greater pool of shoppers.
“Companies initially view Poland as a bridge or springboard to European Union markets,” stated Dariusz Szymczycha, first vp of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce.
“They want to learn … the reality, standards, regulations and rules of operating in the European Union.”
The Piana Vyshnia chain of bars is themed round a conventional cherry liqueur from Ukraine however sees native clients as its primary goal, founder Andriy Khudo instructed Reuters.
His !FЕST restaurant group has grown the model – often known as Drunken Cherry in English – to fifteen places in Poland and 9 in different Baltic and Eastern European nations, ramping up westward enlargement since February 2022, Khudo stated.
The group plans to open in Germany, Switzerland and France in 2025 and relaunch a venue in London, he stated, including that the bars are attracting new clients and are worthwhile.
“Before the war, we focused on Ukraine because our business was developing there so quickly. But the war kicked us to look more west because of the risk in Ukraine,” Khudo stated.
Refuge increase
Although Ukraine’s financial system grew in 2023 and is prone to broaden in 2024, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko instructed Reuters in November it was nonetheless solely at 78% of its measurement earlier than Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
With no finish to the battle in sight, companies like Khudo’s have needed to look elsewhere – an financial flip for close by nations which have additionally seen labor market strains eased by the arrival of Ukrainian employees.
A Deloitte report in March 2024 estimated that refugees from Ukraine would add as much as 1.1% to Poland’s gross home product (GDP) in 2023 and as a lot as 1.35% in the long run.
“When they come to Poland, for example, whether to work or set up businesses, this is an additional stimulus from the economic perspective for consumption and improving the supply of labor,” Andrzej Kubisiak, deputy director of the Polish Economic Institute, instructed Reuters.
Another Ukrainian restaurateur, Olga Kopylova, instructed Reuters she had no plans earlier than the conflict to take her Chornomorka model overseas however now has three retailers named Czarnomorka in Poland and two apiece in Bratislava and Vienna.
Coffee chain Aroma Kava moved to Poland in 2022 and has since expanded to 10 places, whereas Ukrainian ice cream and frozen merchandise maker Three Bears purchased Polish firm Nordis.
Poland is now the second most necessary marketplace for digital leisure supplier MEGOGO which has grown by interesting to native residents, primarily by way of household programming, co-founder Volodymyr Borovyk instructed Reuters. It entered Poland and Romania – rising Europe’s two most populous nations – in 2023.
“The healthy Polish market not only motivates us but also encourages other Ukrainian companies to enter this market with products tailored specifically for Polish consumers,” he stated.
At the newly-opened Lviv Croissants department in Prague, the employees served a mixture of vacationers, locals and Ukrainians who sipped coffees and nibbled on sandwiches as they took a break from the vacation rush.
“This was my first time eating here, but for me, it is like a feeling of home,” 20-year-old Ukrainian pupil Tatiana Melnyk stated.
Source: www.dailysabah.com