Artem was born and raised in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, part of which Russia has occupied since 2014 and almost all of which it holds today.
In 2014 he moved to Kharkiv, one of the first cities to be hit at the start of the full-scale invasion and still under heavy shelling, less than 40 kilometres from the current frontline. Because of that, he was forced to move again in 2022, this time to Ivano-Frankivsk in the west of Ukraine.
Each move meant rebuilding his life from scratch. Like many Ukrainians, he then took up a profession he had never planned on and joined the army. After being wounded in military service, he returned to civilian life. But finding stability was difficult: temporary part-time jobs offered little security for him and his family.
Artem’s experience is one of hundreds of thousands shaped by a war that continues to disrupt homes, jobs, education and careers across Ukraine.
Ukraine’s situation is unique, but its experience also speaks to a broader challenge facing places recovering from shocks and disasters. Recovery is not only about rebuilding roads, buildings and infrastructure. It is also about helping people rebuild their lives.
At Promprylad Foundation, we believe that recovery starts with people. We are building a model of community-led recovery that helps those affected by the war the most – internally displaced people, women, veterans and their families – to work, learn, create and heal together.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, we have directly supported more than 30,000 people, helped create over 600 jobs, and supported the launch of more than 60 businesses.
The Foundation grew out of Promprylad: a Soviet-era instrument plant in Ivano-Frankivsk that has been redeveloped into an innovation hub that now houses businesses, educational programmes, civic organisations and cultural projects.
Labour market dislocation
UNHCR puts the number of people internally displaced within Ukraine at roughly 3.7 million, with another 5.7 million who have sought refuge abroad. Unemployment rate is 11.3%, close to double the EU average of 5.9%, while three in four enterprises cannot find the workers they need.
High demand for workers coexists with large numbers of people looking for work or ready to change careers. The obstacle is a structural mismatch between the skills workers have and those businesses need.
In 2025 we launched PROMTECH, a platform that retrains people for professions in demand among local employers. Training on its own does not close the gap, so the platform also connects participants with employers.
To date, 193 people have qualified in high-demand professions across nine specialised fields. Veterans, internally displaced people, women and others whose lives were mostly affected by the war made up 78% of participants. Of those who completed the training, 41% found work shortly afterwards.
Artem was one of them. He enrolled in a professional cooking course, as he had always liked to cook. The training taught him to think about a kitchen as a business: production technology, process organisation, quality control, production costs. He is now preparing an application for a veterans’ grant. For his family, this would mean a stable income. For the community – a new local business and jobs.
The importance of supporting SMEs
More and more people in Ukraine are becoming business owners, and many are doing so because health conditions, rehabilitation schedules or caring responsibilities rule out standard employment, and working for themselves is a more realistic route to an income.
Women are also playing an increasingly important role in the workforce as large numbers of men are mobilised. In the first ten months of 2025, women registered more than 153,000 new sole proprietorships, 61% of all new registrations in the country (National Institute for Strategic Studies).
Small businesses play a vital role in driving local economies during war, but often lack the support and networks they need to grow. Promprylad Foundation addresses this by providing a space for collaboration, business development support, and access to networks that open real pathways to growth.
More than 550 business owners have completed our educational programmes. More than 85 veterans and members of their families have finished them and joined our entrepreneurs’ community.
What policymakers can learn from our experience
Our experience points to three lessons for policymakers seeking to support their regions through shocks and disasters.
First, enable local solutions. Ivano-Frankivsk, where most of the Promprylad Foundation’s work is focused, is not a frontline city. It is one of the places people move to from more dangerous regions, and the region now hosts 109,654 internally displaced people, 48,434 of them of working age (Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration). This has created rapidly changing local needs that require local responses. Local organisations know which employers are hiring, which skills newcomers bring, and where support is missing long before a national programme can respond.
Giving local actors the capacity, resources and flexibility to act – including by directing a greater share of donor funding to regional and community-led initiatives – can make recovery programmes more responsive to the realities of each place.
Second, foster economic inclusivity. Some people face barriers at every stage: looking for work, being hired, and building a career. Health conditions, rehabilitation schedules, caring responsibilities and inaccessible workspaces can close off options that are open to others. Targeted support can help remove these barriers and enable more people to work, earn an income and build their own businesses. The goal should be for recovery support to foster independence rather than long-term reliance on aid.
Third, monitor and evaluate what recovery delivers for people. Recovery is still assessed largely through kilometres of road rebuilt and units of housing constructed. These measures matter, but they should sit alongside indicators that tell us whether people are also rebuilding their livelihoods: job retention, employment outcomes for displaced people, and the number of micro and small businesses that survive and grow. Tracking these outcomes also helps identify what is working and where support needs to change.
Ultimately, recovery is about more than rebuilding what has been destroyed. It is about giving people the means to rebuild their lives and communities the capacity to shape their own future. Artem’s story is one example of what this can look like: new skills opening new opportunities, greater prospects for stability, and the possibility of contributing to the recovery of the wider community. Putting people at the forefront is what makes recovery last.
Liudmyla Kryzhanovska is the Director of the Promprylad Foundation and an expert in fundraising and strategic development. She has over 10 years of experience in fundraising management, partnerships, and social initiatives. A graduate of the Ukrainian Catholic University and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, she holds master's degrees in social sciences and social work.
At the Promprylad Foundation, Liudmyla plays a leading role in developing and implementing transformative programs. Among them is the School of Entrepreneurship with dedicated courses supporting women and veteran entrepreneurs. Another key initiative is Promtech — targeted learning that equips people with the skills needed in today’s job market, helping them transition into new professions and rebuild their economic independence. She is also deeply engaged in the development of Petros, a safe and supportive space for veterans to reintegrate into civilian life, reconnect with their families and communities, and access training and employment opportunities.