People

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  How Ukrainian brand YaKUSH entered EU, US, and Canadian markets with handcrafted tableware, glass, and textiles — an interview with founder Maria Yakush

  In 2016, Maria Yakush, the owner of a restaurant consulting agency, needed tableware for a client project but could not find anything that matched her concept. Then she...

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  Art that cannot be held captive: Leonid Marushchak’s four-year mission to rescue Ukrainian artifacts from Russian shelling and occupation

  Speeding down a Donetsk highway as fast as frontline conditions permit, a flatbed truck carries a massive concrete deer. Amidst the camouflaged military convoys, it stands out...

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  In 2022, Elena Belova lost both her home and her business. Now, she crafts unique perfumes in France — a story

  Elena Belova, 54, was the first to launch a perfumery school in Ukraine, following the success of her niche brand, Parfum Facteur . Her life has been defined by dramatic...

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  How a family business from Kharkiv became a leader in Ukraine’s pet market. An Interview with Suziria Group co-owner Polina Kosharna

  Over more than 30 years, the family pet corporation Suziria Group has become a key player in the Ukrainian market. It operates the MasterZoo chain of stores and grooming...

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  Designer sisters from Chernivtsi started with a home atelier. Today their wedding dresses are worn in Europe and the US. The Kotapska brand story — an interview

  Chernivtsi natives Iryna Kotapska and Liudmyla Lipinska are designers, sisters, and business partners. In 2003, 22-year-old Iryna founded the bridal dress brand Kotapska ,...

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  Anna Gorbenko revived her organic food brand twice and entered the UK market. The lessons she learned — Interview

  In 2015, investment banker Anna Gorbenko founded Healing Taste , an organic vegan food producer, in Kyiv. Over 11 years, she has weathered multiple crises, the COVID-19...

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  Dodo Socks: one of Ukraine’s best-known sock brands and beyond. How two IT specialists turned a hobby into a business that expanded to Japan — an interview

  In 2015, colleagues from an IT company, Marta Turetska and Andrii Pliasun, started sending warm socks to the front . But every pair was gray and plain. Marta and Andrii...

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  Bessarabian restaurant Tatar Bunar in London drew the attention of Michelin and Bloomberg in 11 months. Co-owner Anna Andriienko explains how

  Kyiv native Anna Andriienko studied Business Law at  Tilburg University in the Netherlands and initially planned to build a legal career. After returning to Kyiv in 2015, she...