By KYIV. Nov 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Russian full-scale armed aggression for 23% of Ukrainian businesses resulted in a decrease in income by 25% to 50%, for another 35% it fell by half or more, while 11% lost it altogether, these are the results of a Gradus Research poll.
"Only 5% of our businesses have increased their income," founder and director of the research company Yevhenia Blyzniuk said at Kyiv International Economic Forum.
According to her, some 1% of respondents started a new business.
"Almost a quarter of the business retained or increased their team, this is also rather good news, while 26% had to be reduced to a third of the staff," Blyzniuk said.
According to her, predominantly the majority of workers have less employment and less pay – this is one of the key mechanisms for retaining the team.
Among the priorities, the business highlighted the preservation of the team and its safety, maintaining the salaries of employees at the maximum level and maintaining the current sales markets.
According to Gradus, some 61% of businesses do not need to relocate, while 7% do, and 12% have already fully or partially relocated. In addition, some 4% of respondents opened branches abroad.
Blyzniuk said some 80% of the relocated business moved to the EU countries, some 8% to Asian countries, some 8% to North America, and most of all business moves to Poland. At the same time, 90% of respondents believe that Ukrainian products can compete with European ones, against only 1% of those who believe that this is completely impossible.
"In the summer, business believed that the war would last until the winter of 2022-2023, as of now, they believe that the prospects for the end of the war are the end of 2023," Blyzniuk said.
For future development, according to the business opinion recorded by the survey, it is necessary to overcome corruption, reform the judicial system and create favorable conditions for investors.
The study was conducted from November 1 to November 6, some 293 interviews were conducted by representatives of small, medium and large businesses.
