Ahead of reconstruction: why some international companies are already looking at Ukraine

Viesturs Liegis

Managing Partner of Amrop in Ukraine, Partner at Amrop in Latvia, and member of Amrop’s Board Services, Digital and Defence Practices

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Why international businesses are already taking an interest in Ukraine, and the role of leadership talent

Discussions about Ukraine’s future reconstruction often give the impression that international businesses will only begin to take an active interest once the war is over. But judging by what we see in our work with international companies, this process has actually already begun.

This is not yet a mass influx of investors or a major wave of new office openings. But more and more companies are beginning to look at Ukraine strategically: assessing the market, looking for people, analysing opportunities and considering what their presence here should look like in the future.

I have already spoken about this trend in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. In our experience, international companies that already had operations in Ukraine began stepping up investment in their teams and business development again around the summer of 2024. And since the spring of this year, we have also been receiving a different kind of enquiry — from companies that do not yet have a presence in Ukraine but are already considering entering the Ukrainian market.

Businesses are beginning to prepare in advance

The logic is fairly straightforward. Once the war ends, interest in Ukraine is likely to grow significantly. And companies understand that if they wait until this process becomes widespread, competing for opportunities, people and market positions will be much harder. This is precisely why some businesses are trying to prepare now.

For some, this means assessing the potential market. For others, it means finding partners or making their first key hires. For others still, it means understanding which capabilities the company will need if it decides to make a full-scale entry into Ukraine.

The defence sector is the most obvious example: international companies in this industry are already quite active in Ukraine. But importantly, interest is gradually extending beyond defence. We are also seeing interest from companies in other sectors. In my view, this is one of the significant signals.

Decisions are increasingly being made with a long-term perspective

The war undoubtedly remains the main risk factor. Successive waves of Russian attacks, the security situation and economic uncertainty can affect timelines and specific investment decisions.

But companies that are seriously considering Ukraine generally look beyond a horizon of just a few months. They are trying to understand where the Ukrainian market will be in three, five or ten years.

A short-term deterioration in the security situation therefore does not necessarily mean abandoning strategic plans. In our work, we do not see a widespread response along the lines of: another escalation has occurred, so the company abandons its plans for Ukraine altogether. Rather, what changes is the pace at which those plans are implemented. This is a fundamental difference.

People will be one of the key considerations

As market growth picks up, competition will not be limited to investment projects or clients. Competition for leadership talent will also be intense.

For an international company, simply deciding to establish a business in Ukraine is not enough. It needs leaders who understand both international management standards and the Ukrainian context. This requires a distinctive set of competencies.

Over recent years, Ukrainian businesses have learned to operate amid extreme uncertainty, make decisions quickly, reorganise logistics, manage teams during wartime and respond to a constantly changing environment. This experience is highly valuable.

At the same time, as the number of international companies grows, so will demand for people who have experience working in global organisations, understand corporate procedures, governance and how to work with international headquarters, and can combine these approaches with Ukrainian realities.

This is precisely why the development of leadership capital needs to be addressed now, rather than after the war.

Ukraine needs to compete for more than capital

When we talk about the future of Ukraine’s economy, the discussion often centres on investment volumes. But capital is only one part of the picture.

Ukraine will also have to compete for companies, technologies, expertise and people. And here, the quality of institutions will play a crucial role: clear rules, corporate governance, professional supervisory boards, investor protection and predictable interaction between government and business.

For an international company, deciding to enter a new market always involves assessing the entire system, rather than a single indicator.

Ukraine has considerable strengths: a large market, human capital, the scale of future reconstruction, its geographical location and the prospect of further integration with the European Union. But turning this potential into actual business entry requires an infrastructure of trust. And this, too, needs to be built in advance.

Ukraine has not yet reached the point of a mass influx of international businesses. It would be an exaggeration to say that global companies are already entering the Ukrainian market en masse.

But the first signs are already there. Some international companies are once again stepping up the development of their Ukrainian teams. Others are, for the first time, beginning to seriously assess the possibility of establishing a presence in Ukraine.

This means that preparations for the post-war economy have effectively already begun. And our task now is not simply to wait for large-scale reconstruction, but to develop, in advance, the people, competencies and institutions that will enable Ukraine to make the most of this interest when it becomes substantially greater.

This article was originally published on LIGA.net.