Rather alive

How Ukrainian small business in the hottest points of the country overcomes a big war

Odessa. We must sew

“Children to parents, cats, a dog there, with her husband, himself in the military enlistment office,” Sveta recalls the end of February the twenty -second year.

Svetlana Fomenko has a fiery haircut, her own brand of sweatshirt in a cage with a hood, two higher education (a history of the IT department at the real estate agency), she drives a car abruptly and her person in the Odessa party of intellectual games.

The medical board, however, had a special opinion about her health: she has a serious chronic disease. Svetlana, “in order not to go crazy with uselessness,” began to volunteer: water-gay for checkpoints, lubrication for weapons, armor-volunteers-people went to the war, which stood. I was dangled in Kherson after the city’s de -captain: a lot of people with chronic diseases were left without drugs, whether she could not know what it was. Consulted a friend-farlets. Then I found contact with "doctors without borders." I have seen enough pictures of the post-purchasing life of the closest neighbors of Odessa, in the Nikolaev region, where the Russian army was able to capture three percent of the territory:

- In the Snigirevsky district, in the village of Central, the Russians plundered and destroyed the hospital. And Ukrainian prisoners from colony number five, which were treated for tuberculosis, were stolen.

- In terms of?

- They took with them, mobilized.

After traveling to the front, it was necessary to choose what to do next: the state did not have enough hands about everywhere. By that time, Svetlana, together with friends, Evgeny Armer and Irina Stasyuk, registered the public organization “The Teritarian Nastamnosti” (“Territory of Invasurability.”) We learned that one of Odessa’s hospitals critically needed adaptive clothing for the wounded (from a particularly soft hypoallergenic tissue, on Velcro instead of side seams), they ordered a party in the party in sewing workshop.

- Who paid? - I ask.

- From your pocket.

After a certain time, family money came to an end, but the desire to be necessary is not. Five months ago, Sveta says, she walked a dog at the stadium and loudly, emotionally found out on the phone what to do with the adaptive. A man of mature years of age wrapped circles with his dog:

“Why are you screaming, girl?” Everything is clear for a long time. Open your own sewing production of tracksuits, for example. And for the wounded to sew from sales income. I am a cutter, I will help.

- Sewing production?! Yes, I don’t know how to sew a button, I’m taking my mother! Lobzik, a punch, anything, just not that, ”my interlocutor laughs.

In general, she agreed with the arguments. I issued a loan at the bank, rented a room, rented five used sewing machines, announced vacancies. “Tinday” , the name of the brand, developed from the nickname of the two dogs: the same close as the cutter from the stadium, although the latter lasted in this Stayer race for a short time. “He criticized more than he gave technical specifications,” said Svetlana. With his right hand, “and sometimes the neck and head”, as light expressed, was Veronika Boychuk, one of the first professional craftswomen to send a resume.

And then the story of the small business of Svetlana Fomenko diverges into two channels.

First: “Yesterday I woke up with a clear thought: we are closing. No sales. So, there is nothing to sew for the wounded. But there is rent. There are salaries, there are loans and eleven days before the next payment, ” - a quote from one post of Sveta on Facebook. Quote from another: “I do not ask for the donates. I'm not looking for compassion. We sew really cool Ukrainian clothes - costumes, hoodies, tunics. If you need something listed, write to me. I will tell you, I will show, I will pick up the size. If you do not plan a purchase, make a repost. This will help to survive. Thank you! This is more than an order - this is life. ”

The additional drama of the situation was that things on Velcro, from a special soft fabric, according to the patterns of a “sewing company”, known to the All -Ukrainian volunteer initiative with great experience, now it was impossible to give to hospitals just like that, despite a huge need. Although Tinday already helped out not only Odessa, but also the Dnieper, Vinnitsa, Khmelnitsky, Lviv, all who asked. Any humanitarian assistance of this kind of instructions by the Ministry of Health was ordered to be considered under a magnifying glass: is there any corruption component in cooperation?

- After exchanging prisoners, our guys in rehabilitation also require convenient linen, trousers, t -shirts, jackets. The minimum size we previously sewed the 46th. And now the 44th and even the 42nd is needed-Sveta's eyes darken. - Very much ecute ... and another ethical moment. How to combine two photos in the catalog-models girls in a summer lavender outfit with shorts and wounded in a hospital bed, in an adaptive costume of our production?

The second direction of history is optimistic. Recently, the businessman of the business had to go through the express course of the young fighter: to master the straight line and overlock. The seamstresses could not cope, so many urgent work fell: shirts, hoodies, T -shirts! Facebook posts, where Svetlana openly told everything about everything, became encouraged. And the Ukrainian diaspora abroad - those who live there for many years - responded not only to the words of support:

“France, Austria, Canada, even New Zealand - parcels flew to thirteen countries,” says Sveta. - There are repeated large orders, response with thanks. We warn: we will send on time to the ends of the world!

Fomenko chooses fabrics herself, in the famous Odessa market “Seventh kilometer”. Tests - cuts off a piece, rubs his own skin:

“I have psoriasis, a summer form, I hide from the sun - yes, and this is in the city by the sea,” explains Sveta.

- But then I will never buy either a matter of low quality, which soars, irritates either for myself or others. And no one will quarrel: “Made on a small Arnauta” ...

A year ago in Odessa, a regional office earned to support small businesses - with the participation of the Japanese government. The office advises which direction to choose, how to correctly draw up documents and get a microcredit from the state as part of the program “its own business”. Good business ideas are called the sale of cold and hot drinks (the risk of not returning investments is minimized), the opening of a small cafe, self-service car wash or beauty salon. Repeat the experience of Svetlana Fomenko who are not enough.

Sumy. A rawly argument

Recently, the Agency for Regional Development of the Sumy Region was presented with a Catalog of Kraft enterprises, on which the region’s economy is based. Local firms included fifty of the catalog : brands of clothing, shoes, furniture, drinks, cosmetics. The list also included the Andreevskaya Syrevarka "Basis" , a family business, founded in 2022 and actively developing.

When the magazine about the craft -workers saw the light, a change occurred on the warfare map. The small village of Andreevka of the Khotinsky community, seven kilometers from the border, captured the assault groups of Russians. The invaders are located in the huts of local residents, turning their dwellings into firing points. True, by mid -June, operational reports showed: the Ukrainian army restored control of Andreevka, but fights are going on around.

I did not dare to call the “basis” right away. Wrote to the owners, young spouses of Krivozubam, Inna and Vladislav. I asked where to evacuated and how things were generally ...

“We are not from the Andreevka, which is shown in the news, but from another, in the Romensky district. We are on the spot, we work, there are no plans about the evacuation, ”Krivozuba answered me. The fact that the entire small Sumy region turned into a target for Russian missiles, and that the terror of the civilian population was based on the desire to demoralize people, to drive into despair, stress, the spouses did not remember until I myself specified the safety. “Well, yes, flies, whistling. The cows are scared, ”they answered me.

Inna and Vladislav - both by education financiers, stylish, modern guys who have been abroad many times. These are usually cheese for morning coffee in the refrigerator. But the idea to begin cheese belongs to just young, and not their parents. Krivozub Sr. was engaged in a dozen herd, four hundred cows for many years, and handed over milk, including the highest score to the children's food plant-the laboratory gave in all respects. “His own farm, their fields, their feeds, their own technology. For a closed cycle, only processing and sales are not enough, ”the graduates of the Banking Academy counted. Crowned the Krivozuba "bridgehead" for several years.

-In 2019 and in 2021, I went to Holland. I watched how everything was arranged on local farms, where they are not produced by a mass product, with authentic tastes, ”recalls Vladislav. - We decided to move in the same direction at the family council.

- That is, to turn cheese on the basis of family well -being? - Trying to guess the origin of the company's name.

“A little wrong,” Vlad said. - Our basis, family value is quality. Cool, competitive cheeses from class milk.

In the pre -war Andreevka with four hundred inhabitants, the appearance of the “foundation” became an event equal to Ukraine’s entry into the EU. Well, a teenage competition also impressed, and teaching technological processes, and control of independent experts. Manual labor in the “basis” occupies an honorable place, so far we are not talking about automation of processes. Measure the pH indicators, form cheese grains, evaluate the cheese incision, lower it into the salt bath, go down to the basement, where the cheese heads are lying, and turn them over so that it rises correctly and evenly ...

They cooked their first cheese, soft, creamy gadu, at the end of the spring of 2022. It is difficult to imagine a more inappropriate moment to start. People in the district center of Romna, where the "foundation" opened a company store, stored mainly with bread, cereals, canned goods. But they survived - both manufacturers and buyers. Later the line was expanded: classic Italian and Spanish groups of cheeses, Halumi, even an analogue of Parmesan appeared. No preservatives, stabilizers, flavorings or palm oil. They do not cook cheeses with mold: they need a separate camera so that other varieties do not “infect”.

By the fourth year of the war, the “foundation” did not close, but, on the contrary, reached the All -Ukrainian level.

“Large retail chains from Sum, Poltava, Kyiv cooperate with us,” said Vladislav Krivozub. - The brother plans to do still frozen products, manual modeling dumplings, for example, do. A year ago, when Russia beat in energy, bought generators, so there should be no problems with refrigerators. Worse with logistics. Not all routes in the Sumy region are now available: shelling.

The “Basis” also sends its products to the Ukrainian soldiers, to the front and in the hospitals, and helps the drones and cars. There is no more serious argument than the return of their land up to the last kilometer. Therefore, a socially responsible business is invested in the defense of the country to the maximum.

I add to Vlad, which of the cheeses he prefers with coffee. Laughs: they say, I do not want to offend the rest of my products, but at the end it seems:

- Probably the author’s “New Romain”. Or brunost, brown, unusual, for gourmets. Sweet-saline, caramel shade ...

In Holland, they are unlikely to understand where this Ukrainian stubbornness came from - not to die contrary to circumstances. Let him remain the secret of the company.

Kharkov. Surrounded flowers

The heroine of the publications of Novy-Europe, a journalist and writer from Kharkov, Anna Gin has nothing to do with business. But what Anna does, in years will lead as an example of human stamina, faith and beauty-not just hand-maid, for which hundreds and thousands of hryvnias willingly lay out. So Anna, who lives on Saltovka, the most sheated area of ​​the city, collects funds for Ukrainian soldiers.

She collects them in the literal sense of the word under her feet. Field chamomiles-behind the Kharkov “Epicenter”, where the rocket hit last May, rose hips-on the golf club, crippled an air bomb, on the northern northern cloth, near the destroyed high-rise buildings, in funnels from the gaps of everything that flies to the city. Flowers and fragments.

The story began by accident. "I asked in Google:" How to save flowers? " I wanted to leave this power forever. So I got acquainted with the technique of pouring flowers with epoxy resin, ” - I quote Anna Gin on Facebook. - A week later, my balcony turned into a workshop. Everywhere now I go with a basket and scissors. The floor in the resin, the table in the paint, Hector (Doberman) in sparkles ... I bought accessories, sit with pliers, make pendants, I can imagine how I will give my friends a piece of non-nasty ”(“ non-resounding ”in Ukrainian means“ inconsistent ”).

It was friends who insisted at auctions. The number of people who want to have a piece of the unrequited Kharkov has growed exponentially.

“Traditional Friday auction“ Non -Minh ” . Briefly for brand new. I make jewelry and key fobs myself, collecting flowers and fragments from missiles in Kharkov. I am a land, I come up with compositions, I fill in with resin, ”Anna repeated the reports periodically. - Every two weeks, on Fridays, I expose the work. There is no initial price. You can offer your price in the comments under the photo. The winner under each lot is determined at noon Monday. We can send a parcel to any country (of course, except for Russia, Belarus and other sisters and the North Korean brothers). Money from the auction goes to the necessary for our military things. ”

Kharkov is generally an unconditional All -Ukrainian leader in part of companies continuing to work under fire. The Wonder premium brand , known primarily by its woolen coats and structured coat-jackets, at the beginning of the invasion transferred production to the west of the country. But in 2023 he returned home with the classroom collection "Autumn-Wizima". The average production of an individual order by standards is five days. You can compare the pace with statistics, how many times in five days the city is attacked from the air, with destruction and victims ...

The appearance in the summer of the 2022nd brand of women's swimsuits “Sao Swimwear” from Kharkov, Ekaterina Sadurskaya, the world champion in Fridiving, denied the dreary “who needs it now ...” swimsuits undertook to sew out of the regenerated nylon, which, in turn, turned out from processing ... fishing nets. “Every year, about 640,000 tons of lost fishing tackle remain in the seas and oceans, plastic waste does not decompose biologically,” the brand explained his policy. “Millions of dolphins, seals, turtles and sea birds suffer, entangled in networks. Therefore, we transmit part of the revenue to the Healthy Seas organization, which collaborates with different diving groups in Europe and organizes immersion to cleanse the seas. With a group of divers in one day, Healthy Seas can collect about 300 kilograms of lost networks. ” Now fashionable girls after nights in the subway, which turned into a bomb shelter, knew how to cheer themselves up in order to show off in the pool.

In the same first summer of the Great War, the Russian Iskander attacked a sports complex with a 50-meter basin, where Sadurskaya herself once trained, and then taught the kids and was engaged in the rehabilitation of children with disabilities. Miraculously did without the victims. A year later, the city was restored by both the sports complex and the pool: here they learned not to postpone life until the best days.

The volunteer project “UM Store” is a favorite of high school students and students. T -shirts and hoodies in the colors of the coat of arms of the city, yellow and green, with the inscription "Kharkiv", the Longshelvas "alarming youth" - all funds from sales of these lines are directed to support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Maria Turchina and Denis Cherkassky continue to work in the hometown of Kharkov residents. Their brand "Griffon Socks" is bright socks in thematic packages of four or six pieces.

The Griffon Socks collaborates the illustrator of children's books, the design artist Yulia Cherednichenko.

In 2023, Julia received the British Association of Illustrators in the nomination “Professional Design, Product and Packaging”-for work on Kharkov socks that can be considered and “read”.

Here is what Julia’s Instagram says about the new box with the name "where the Ukrainian sun is rushing." “These are not just socks. This is a longing for a house that is no longer there, but which is always inside you. East of Ukraine. The place where the memories are born, where apricots grow at each yard. Where in the air the smell of the steppe, honey and summer dust. Where are the terrylics, meadows and wheat fields. We created this box with you, from your stories, words, pain, tears, warmth and love. This is a box for those who are longing. And for those who want to feel. Who has the east - roots, not just geography. In every pair - a piece of home ... "

Although, of course, the case in Kharkov is a risk, and this is not about money. «Новая» рассказывала о флагманском предприятии региона, одном из крупнейших полиграфических комплексов полного цикла в Европе, типографии «Фактор-Друк» , переплетный цех которой в мае прошлого года разбили четыре российских С-300, с интервалом меньше минуты. Семеро погибших сотрудников, свыше двух десятков раненых, пятьдесят тысяч сожженных книг — в основном, школьные учебники… К марту 2025-го типографию отстроили с помощью фонда мецената Говарда Баффетта из США. Но людей не воскресить.

Kherson. Прифронтовой сервис

Херсон — единственной областной центр, который России удалось захватить вскоре после вторжения. Расчет на то, что южный русскоязычный регион встретит танки и БТР-ы с триколорами дружелюбно, оказался ложным. "Home! Home!" — скандировали многолюдные демонстрации под сине-желтыми флагам, преграждая дорогу технике оккупантов. «Херсон — это Украина!»

На третью неделю мирные собрания в центре стали жестко разгонять: гранаты со слезоточивым газом, автоматные очереди над головами, облавы. Пошли обыски и повальные аресты, подвалы превратились в пыточные камеры. Под подозрение попали самые разные категории участников митингов и просто те, кто не боялся: журналисты, волонтеры, жены и дети участников АТО, крымские татары, бизнесмены, фермеры, люди с проукраинской позицией. И так все девять месяцев оккупации.

Город остается для России самым ненавидимым местом в Украине, где пришлось испытать унижение. Жить сейчас в прифронтовом Херсоне — огромное испытание, заниматься бизнесом — сродни социальной миссии или даже гражданскому подвигу.

«Тут на каждом столе — кубик Рубика, наверное, самая популярная головоломка в мире. Ее положили, чтобы посетители кофейни “Coffee 1111” ( украинская армия освободила город 11 ноября 2022 года. — Прим. авт. ) могли отвлечься от проблем. Но для Херсона такая игрушка имеет еще и символическое значение. Для местного жителя каждый прожитый день — своего рода сборка головоломки, когда надо всё устроить так, чтобы за короткое время (во второй половине дня улицы практически вымирают) сделать свои дела и не попасть в беду, потому что оккупанты обстреливают город из артиллерии, сбрасывают на него КАБы, атакуют дронами», — так в местном издании «Мост» начинается рассказ о кофейне в Таврическом микрорайоне и ее собственнике по имени Алексей.

Алексей не покидал Херсон в период оккупации, и говорит, что дата 1111 — отныне главная в его жизни. Решение открыть кафе «для борьбы горожан со стрессом» (никакого алкоголя, только кофе и чай нескольких видов, хот-доги, сэндвичи, пирожные!) — для него тоже как кубик Рубика. Каждое утро начинает с ленты местных новостей, проверяет с помощью смартфона запись с камер наблюдения. «Проснулся — значит, жив: отлично. Пишу девочкам-баристам: всё ли у вас в порядке? Great. А кофейня уцелела? Идем на работу. После обеда расходимся по домам и перед сном благодарим высшие силы за подаренный день», — объясняет герой публикации. Комендантский час здесь начинается в 20:00.

Таврический микрорайон (или просто Таврик) считается более безопасным, чем Днепровский район, или, допустим, Остров. Хотя относительная безопасность дает сбои. В «Coffее 1111», бывало, и окна выносило, и оборудование страдало, и битую посуду сгребали после взрывной волны. Но кофейня не закрывалась. Кто-то из персонала занимался ликвидацией последствий, другие обслуживали посетителей.

По данным Херсонской областной военной администрации, в 2024-м году количество ликвидированных предприятий малого и среднего бизнеса в области превысило количество созданных. Та же тенденция сохраняется в 2025-м. Херсонские гиганты, судостроительный и судоремонтный завод, стоят в руинах. Специалисты не имеют физической возможности их осмотреть. Сразу начинается обстрел и сбросы взрывчатки с дронов — российская армия находится за два километра отсюда, за Днепром.

По словам Дениса Путинцева, директора департамента по делам СМИ и связям с общественностью Херсонского горсовета, из-за постоянных атак случаются перебои с электричеством, теплом, газом, связью. Но и в таких условиях в городе открывают небольшие продуктовые магазины, кофейни, ателье по ремонту одежды и обуви, аптеки, парикмахерские, даже кабинеты ногтевого сервиса. Ателье и маникюрщицы работают, как правило, «по звонку»: на двери висит телефон владельца. Нередко хозяева меняют месторасположение точек по причине вполне объяснимой: был «прилет». Население составляют преимущественно люди старшего и среднего возраста, но бизнесом занимается преимущественно молодежь.

Зачем им это надо?

Видеосюжет настолько хорош, что хочется поделиться им целиком.

Эффектная девушка, владелица интернет-магазина косметики из Киева, рассказывает о своих ощущениях в День города, 25 мая, во время масштабной ракетной атаки на Украину. «Я сижу, первый час ночи, просто прощаюсь с жизнью — взрывы каждую секунду. Паника охватила впервые за все годы войны. И тут в 00:49 на сайт приходит сообщение… Катерина из Харькова заказывает себе косметики на четыре с половиной тысячи гривен! ( около 100 евро по курсу. — Прим. авт. )

И я такая думаю: “Нифига себе, Катерина, какая у вас уверенность в завтрашнем дне! И в том, что я выживу, и что наша компания отправит вам заказ!”

В Харькове такие же взрывы в это время. Но Катерина заказывает себе (тут девушка открывает розовый бокс) маску против отеков, гидрофилочку с центеллой», — следует перечисление всего, что в коробке. И продолжает:

«Мне так это подняло настроение! Я настолько восхитилась украинцами, которые для того, чтобы отвлечься, покупают косметику во время ракетных атак, ходят на работу, три дня не спавши, в общем, живут свою жизнь. И я решила купить Катерине за то, что привела меня в чувство, шампанское и конфеты в подарок (комплимент тоже ныряет в розовый короб) и написать ей письмо с благодарностью в несокрушимый Харьков… Поддерживайте друг друга! Нам еще многое надо пережить и выстоять», — улыбается богиня малого бизнеса.

Тут и добавить нечего.

Kyiv