Leading Ukrainian companies began reducing trade with Russia long before the invasion, according to a study

Many Ukrainian companies from various business sectors continued to supply goods and services to Russia after the events of 2014. However, a number of enterprises, considered to be the most experienced in their market segments, started to limit or completely cease their cooperation with Russian counterparts long before February 24, 2022.

This was reported in an article by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.

"The ease of currency conversion, industrial capacities left to the Russian Federation as a legacy from the Soviet Union after its collapse, and convenient logistics along the entire border, even after gaining independence, attracted both exporters and importers from Ukraine. But some brands well-known to every Ukrainian were more far-sighted," the authors of the article emphasize.

Among other large companies, the food corporation Fozzy Group, which owns several supermarket chains, and the confectionery company Roshen expressed readiness to forgo earnings in Russia. However, many producers of alcoholic beverages and owners of digital services continued to export goods and services to Russia until February 24, 2022.

Drug manufacturers, particularly Farmak and Darnytsia, took a more responsible stance. As the largest pharmaceutical companies in Ukraine, they could afford to exit the Russian market relatively painlessly.

However, "Pharmak" in those years continued supplies to Russia, justifying it by the large number of Ukrainians living there and completely abandoned supplies only after February 24, 2022. "According to the results of 2017, the share of this manufacturer in the export of medicines to Russia amounted to 16.7%, and based on the forecast of investors, in 2018 it was to grow to 18.6%", - write journalists UNIAN.

In turn, "Darnytsia" ceased most operations by 2015, completely stopping the sale of medicines to Russia and producing packages that could be supplied there through third countries. After the start of the invasion, the company annulled all registration certificates for its products in the aggressor country and conducted an audit of 6,000 trade partners, breaking contracts with all who operated in Russia.

"The Ukrainian economy is currently almost entirely focused on the war, but at the same time, it is actively restructuring at all levels to adapt to new competitive conditions. After the victory, when large-scale reconstruction begins, the driving force of economic processes will be enterprises that have already liberated themselves and will be able to free themselves from the market paradigm in which trade with an aggressive dictatorship is possible," the authors of the study conclude.

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