European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 10d ago

Founder Andrii Ilchenko shares how repeated crises shaped his leadership – from taking over a struggling business straight out of university, to rebuilding after a devastating fire and navigating destruction again during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We talk responsibility, risk, rebuilding under pressure, and what resilience looks like when setbacks aren’t theoretical – but existential. What you’ll learn: How crisis and loss test leadership, judgement, and personal responsibility Lessons from rebuilding and scaling a manufacturing business through repeated shocks Why resilience is built through action 00:00 Intro 02:36 Early business troubles and stepping up 04:19 A father’s advice 06:19 Leading after loss 08:13 Production facility fire: starting over 11:07 Finding opportunity in disaster 12:22 Responsibility to employees 13:26 Choosing to rebuild instead of walking away 15:00 Bringing friends into the business 18:46 New partners and the skills they brought 20:06 War damage and rebuilding again 25:26 Returning to Irpin after occupation 30:21 Leading through war 33:59 How war changes you 35:54 The roots of resilience 37:36 Drive to keep going About this series: Founders spotlights resilient entrepreneurs whose personal battles and bold ideas shape high-impact companies across our regions – raw stories, real setbacks, pragmatic lessons, and hard-won wins. Enjoyed this episode? SUBSCRIBE for more episodes and founder deep-dives Find out more about the EBRD’s SME support programmes: https://www.ebrd.com/home/what-we-do/products-and-services/support-for-start-ups-and-msmes.html Series: Founders | Episode 2 Location: Ukraine Filming: Shot in April and May 2026 Guest: Andrii Ilchenko Director/Producer: Nick Thompson Videographers: Ed Noel & Nikola Ivanovski Editor: Owain Rich Supported by: The European Union and the EBRD’s Small Business Impact Fund (current active donors contributing are Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, TaiwanBusiness - EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.).