"The local market has lost 80-90% of its cash turnover." IT clusters from the east of Ukraine - about the consequences of the war and the possibility of returning

Since the beginning of a large-scale war, a large number of IT companies based in eastern Ukraine have been evacuated. The offices of almost every one of them are broken, as well as the homes of employees, a number of businesses have ceased to exist altogether, and some have lost more than 20% of their teams.

DOU spoke with the Mariupol, Luhansk and Severodonetsk IT clusters about the state of the companies today, what kind of help they need and what they think about returning to their hometowns.

Андрій Andrey Gadashevich, CEO of MakeBeCool and co-founder of the Mariupol IT cluster In Mariupol, there were mostly small and medium-sized IT companies, as well as offices of companies from other regions: somewhere 5-10 people worked, and somewhere more than 100. Most of them managed to evacuate under different conditions and at different times, but mostly left after the bombing — in mid-March or at the end. Then, after several disruptions of the "green" corridors, people began to unite and leave the city by private transport at their own risk.

For at least 3-4 weeks, most offices in Mariupol have stopped working, and some have not resumed it. Some of the IT residents who were unable to leave are still in the city. Unfortunately, I do not have information about the number of people, but I know that the situation there is deplorable.

Mostly small companies ceased to exist, because they could not assemble a team after all the events. And they didn't have the resources to resume operations. There was no way to keep contracts with clients. Medium-sized companies and companies from other regions that had offices in Mariupol were able to retain their business: they temporarily transferred the execution of contracts to other divisions. Product teams, which are mainly focused on the Ukrainian market, also went through difficult times. But the domestic market lost 80-90% of its cash turnover.

Companies that were also active in peacetime allocated resources (people, finances) to help evacuate residents of Mariupol and support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There are also those who have completely reoriented themselves to volunteer funds or headquarters.

Now the teams of Mariupol companies are scattered throughout Ukraine and Europe, there are those who left for Canada. Most of them did not gather the same team or lost 20% or more people, because they simply could not continue working.

We all faced various problems: the search for housing and its space cost, mental problems after the occupation (it is difficult for people to focus, there is anxiety), lack of understanding of the future. In addition, the displaced persons were called up for service almost immediately — 5-7 days after they got out of Mariupol.

Now a lot of problems have been solved, people are gradually coming to their senses, making plans for the future. We, like other IT specialists in Ukraine, continued to help the country to bring victory closer after the resumption of our activities: we collect humanitarian supplies, donate them, and fight in cyberspace.

There are hopes that after the end of the war it will be possible to restore it in Mariupol. That is, in the long run, it is possible, but we will have to go a long way of recovery after we liberate the city.

Individuals now need assistance, and in general, the country provides this assistance. Companies also try to support their teams. As for whether companies and entrepreneurs need help... I will speak for myself, but I think the whole industry will have a similar position. We are used to relying on our own strength and helping others more than asking for support and hoping for it.

📍 Nusrat Nuriev, Senior Software Engineer at EPAM, founder of the Luhansk region Reactor IT cluster In the first 90 days of a large-scale war, we were in evacuation mode. I think that all the companies participating in the cluster have already left and are looking for opportunities abroad. Although in general, it is handled by individuals, not companies. From what I've heard, we went to Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and France. Since the cluster deliberately took a pro-Ukrainian position, I do not have information about whether there were those who left for Russia.

There are no special requests from companies, because our cluster is not so developed as to meet them. Since Europe did not invest much in us, we developed very slowly and poorly.

I don't think it makes sense to talk about returning to the Luhansk region at all, since this is the most active arena of military operations. And before that, it was a moderate war zone.

Volunteering of companies today is informational: we share information with each other. And we never had any money. Perhaps someone transfers them to volunteer funds privately.

We do not cooperate with the authorities. But it is necessary to conclude a certain agreement between the authorities and IT specialists in order to eliminate inconvenient moments: for example, what commercial banks are currently doing with the exchange rate is terrible.

In addition, I think that we need a law that guarantees a person's right not to join the army. Such people can officially pay 5 5-10 thousand for not serving. Those who don't want to fight are useless. Therefore, if you are not ready to fight, finance the state.

In addition, it is necessary to prescribe in the law that the financial turnover of someone who paid for refusal of service should be at least $24 thousand per year. That is, a person should earn money, and not just pay once and sit and glue a fool. And the money that will come from such a scheme should be used to raise the salaries of those who want to fight, to provide weapons. Because when there are problems with security, when soldiers buy their own bulletproof vests, it's a shame.

Сергій Sergey Chepel, CEO at Mobius Team, head of the Severodonetsk IT cluster There were no large IT companies in the Luhansk region, except for Mobius Team. However, from the news that I know, the whole business left in the first days of a large-scale war. We felt that something was coming, so in a way we were ready. For example, the small design studio Baza left for Germany on the first day of the war, because they work closely with local clients. And almost all employees of Mobius Team and Economics soft moved to Ternopil, where today they cooperate with other participants of the IT cluster.

Mobius Team had an office in Severodonetsk, and until February 24, we worked there — just doing repairs. However, today almost the entire IT company has moved to Ternopil. Now everyone works remotely. Since almost all the equipment remained in Severodonetsk, we provided the employees with equipment for work. We didn't manage to take anything out, because in the first days everyone was leaving in a hurry, and then it was no longer possible.

Several Mobius team employees are currently in Cherkasy, and one is in Dnipro. Another one is a servant, and we keep a workplace for him. One project manager stayed in Severodonetsk, helped on the spot and suspended cooperation with us for the time being. Now he's out of there. One of the developers went to the territory controlled by the "LPR" when active hostilities began, and terminated the contract, because he was not sure if he would be able to work.

Now the cluster's companies continue to work, but the work has not stopped. We have contracts only with Western clients, so we have regrouped and are already hiring new specialists. None of our clients left and were not afraid of war. On the contrary, they began to support us, delayed deadlines, and gave us time to regroup.

Most of the IT companies in Severodonetsk suffered material losses-we no longer have offices, they are bombed. For example, the Mobius Team office was robbed in the first weeks of the war. We saw the photo — there are no windows, no doors. When there was still electricity, motion sensors were triggered — someone was walking inside. We called the police, but, of course, who will go to check the office during the fighting?

In addition, there are still a lot of people in the city: according to various sources, there are about 15 thousand of them. And these are our acquaintances, friends, relatives.

Now I can't imagine how it can be restored in Severodonetsk and in the east of Ukraine as a whole. The city is destroyed, there is no infrastructure, houses are broken. For example, my employees in Ternopil already say that they are unlikely to return. We conducted a survey, and experts noted that they are starting a new life from scratch.

Do I need support from the state? It was also needed before the war, because everything is complicated with our infrastructure: there was no development of the industry, no events were held (we were just going to hold the first one in April, but we didn't have time). I would like them to help us open new offices and re-open fops (many companies have them registered in Severodonetsk, where we also paid taxes).

Due to the fact that fops are still "assigned" to that territory, we have a problem with payments. SWIFT payments from international companies are blocked, because the "residence permit" is Luhansk. Due to sanctions, it is necessary to transfer accounts to other regions so that international transfers can be received at all.

If there was serious state financial support for Severodonetsk after the war, perhaps we would have returned. But I can't imagine it yet. To have something in the city, you need people, and people will not appear if there is nothing in the city — a vicious circle. However, we believe that the country's leadership will find a solution to this vicious circle.