Ukraine businesses struggle to cope as Russian attacks bring power cuts, uncertainty

Ukrainian businesses face severe challenges from power cuts and war, struggling to survive amid rising costs and uncertainty.

It is pre-dawn in the historic Podil district of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and warm light from the Spelta bakery-bistro's window pierces the darkness outside. On a wooden surface dusted with flour, the baker Oleksandr Kutsenko skilfully divides and shapes soft, damp pieces of dough. As he shoves the first loaves into the oven, a sweet, delicate aroma of fresh bread fills the space.

Seconds later, the lights go out, the ovens switch off, and darkness envelops the room. Mr. Kutsenko, 31, steps outside into the freezing night, switches on a large rectangular generator, and the power kicks back in. It's a pattern that will be repeated many times as the business struggles to keep working through the power outages caused by Russia's bombing campaign on Ukraine's energy grid.

“It's now more than impossible to imagine a Ukrainian business operating without a generator,” said Olha Hrynchuk, the co-founder and head baker of Spelta.

The cost of purchasing and operating generators to overcome power outages is just one of many challenges facing Ukrainian businesses after nearly four years of war. Acute labour shortages due to mobilisation and war-related migration, security risks, declining purchasing power and complicated logistics add to the pressure, officials say.

Hrynchuk, 28, opened the bakery 10 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. That winter was the first year Russia targeted Ukraine's energy system. Hrynchuk says they barely know what it is to work under “normal” conditions, but have never faced the challenges they do now.

Production is entirely dependent on electricity, and the generator burns about 700 hryvnias ($16) worth of fuel per hour.