Lack of funds plague Ukrainian businesses under martial law, ICC survey reveals 

Titled “Identification of Ukrainian Business Needs Under Martial Law Conditions”, the recent survey conducted at the request of ICC shows that a lack of funds ranks chiefly among the many difficulties faced by Ukrainian companies during the martial law period, with nearly 50% of surveyed companies indicating that they needed financial support.

Surveyed businesses also indicated that they have faced supply chains issues (27%) and loss of skilled labour force (20%) since President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law on 24 February 2022, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On a similar note, nearly half of respondents noted that they are looking for investors. 

With regards to employment, 67% of businesses expect staff redundancy until the end of 2022 because of army mobilisation, migration and a decrease of the workload. Over the same period, 53% of businesses expect a significant decrease in the volume of orders and turnover while 50% expect a significant decline of raw materials and volumes of components purchased. 

Overall, while a quarter of survey respondents said they had been able to build a new strategy and business plan since war broke out more than six months ago, more than half of survey respondents say they have faced “a lot of difficulties” with 7% saying they have been unable to adapt to work under martial law conditions. 

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine devastating the economy and pushing many businesses to the edge of survival, the survey aims to help better understand the difficulties faced by companies and entrepreneurs as plans are drawn to start rebuilding Ukraine and its economy. 

John W.H. Denton AO, Secretary General of ICC said: “Ukraine depends on investment more than ever and there are important ways the international community can help de-risk much of that investment. It is crucial that we keep Ukraine’s economy going by reconnecting it with the global economy. Rebuilding Ukraine starts now.” 

The need to rebuild Ukraine is creating a variety of investment projects aimed at contributing to rebuilding the Ukrainian economy. In order to present existing opportunities and draw the attention of the international business community, ICC has partnered with UkraineInvest to host the international investment fair “Rebuilding Ukraine With The Private Sector”.  

The unique forum will take place online on 29 September 2022 with the participation of leading business representatives from all over the world. 

For a copy of the survey, we invite you to contact ICC Ukraine.