There is one sound that Anastatasiya Shevchenko thinks of when talking about Kyiv.
It's a low, almost constant buzz that flows through the streets. It has become as much a part of urban life for the city of about 2.8 million people — roughly the size of Chicago — as the cacophony of distant honking horns. But it's an unusual noise, not one a person would likely come across in the Windy City or another urban center.
And unlike the piercing rackets of missiles and exploding bombs Ukraine's capital has endured over the past year, this new sound is welcome to Shevchenko. To Shevchenko and many others, it is what hope sounds like. It's what a city getting back to business sounds like. It's what brave people trying to shake off the constant threat of violence and war sounds like.
"If you go out in the streets, you can hear the happy noise of generators," said Shevchenko, a general partner at Lugera, a Kyiv-based human resources and recruitment company that serves financial institutions.
"The generators are all over the city. You know that you will have your life back when you hear them," she added, noting that the generators aren't affected by attacks on the main power grid and are used to keep all kinds of businesses necessary for daily life running, including hardware stores, schools, hospitals and bank offices. "Business is working, it's in a survival mode."
To say Ukraine has been through hell in the past year would be to understate the horror its people have suffered. Kyiv and many other cities have been savaged by Russian President Vladimir Putin's conquest.
More than 8,000 non-combatants have died in Ukraine, according to the United Nations, while millions of others have been displaced and many of the country's cities and communities lay in ruin. Air raid sirens, missiles and bombings are still a frequent occurrence and a driving factor in the rise of the use of generators.
Shevchenko, who travels back and forth between Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and Kyiv, is among the thousands of employees in banking, technology and financial services who have had their lives turned upside down since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022.
A number of these individuals spoke with American Banker about their experiences. They discussed not just how they have responded to the invasion, but also how they've managed to continue doing their jobs in bank innovation, staffing, programming and payments and how that's helping Ukraine get back on its feet.
"We are definitely preparing for the time after the war," Shevchenko said, adding her firm is anticipating investing in Ukraine as the company reconstructs its banking and industrial infrastructure. That will create potential demand for financial service workers.
"There's a lot of construction that will need to be done to rebuild these cities, and that will require finance," she said.
'We have become more resilient'
Ukraine's rebuilding should attract investment similar to what occurred under the Marshall Plan, the post-World War II effort that led to billions being invested in Europe's recovery and that created markets for American goods and products.
The cost to rebuild Ukraine's infrastructure will depend on the length and severity of the conflict, but early estimates are about $750 billion, according to The New York Times. That will require financing and investment, creating an opportunity for investors, banks, construction companies and other interested parties.
In February, executives from JPMorgan Chase met with Ukrainian President Voldymry Zelensky to consult with Ukraine's government on rebuilding. The Ukrainian government and the bank signed a memorandum of understanding under which the New York-based institution will advise on issues such as financial stabilization, reconstruction and building economic ties to Europe, according to Zelensky's office.
The February meeting built on the bank's prior counsel regarding debt capital markets. JPMorgan Chase led Ukraine's $20 billion debt restructuring in 2022, and the bank also committed more than $10 million in humanitarian relief and temporary housing support in Poland for refugees.
The bank additionally hired 50 Ukrainian refugees in its Warsaw office, and placed them in a training program for people displaced by the war. JPMorgan Chase did not provide comment for this article.
It's likely that war-torn Ukraine will need significant help from foreign banks in its recovery. Ukrainian bank profits plunged 68% in 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, which attributed the decline to provisioning for incurred and expected losses due to the war. In contrast, U.S. banks' exposure to the area affected by the war is relatively limited, since many of these institutions moved assets out of the region following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, according to Reuters.
Among U.S. payment companies, Visa disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it earned about 4% of its pre-war revenue from Russia and 1% from Ukraine. The company reported it would be able to make up for the loss by growth in other markets in about a year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Mastercard stated that it earned 4% of its pre-war revenue from Russia and 2% from Ukraine, according to an SEC filing. Management said it would lose about $37 million due to its departure from Russia, according to Interfax. Mastercard's 2022 global net income was about $2.3 billion.
Still, despite the past year's financial losses, the banking ecosystem in Ukraine has shown resilience. Early in the invasion, Ukrainians flocked to withdraw money from ATMs, and there were long lines at bank branches, according to Shevchenko.
But fears of bank runs have not materialized, Shevchenko said, adding the ability of most companies to accept contactless payments has been helpful in building confidence among businesses and consumers.
The Lithuanian payment fintech Paysera, which worked to evacuate its staff from Ukraine as the invasion commenced, has spent the past few months expanding its presence in Kyiv.
"Once we found out that the Ukrainians had defended Kyiv, we had more certainty and clarity. We are now strengthening our presence in Ukraine," said Kostas Noreika, co-owner of Paysera.
Over the past few months, Paysera has rented more office space to accommodate extra workers. The firm now has more than 40 programmers in Ukraine and is continuing to recruit technology staff. Before the war, Kyiv was a burgeoning hub for fintech in the region, and Paysera anticipates the talent and demand will still be there.
But the war is present in every step.
"Russia is constantly shelling Ukraine's electricity infrastructure, making it difficult to provide customer service over the phone due to power outages," Noreika said. Paysera is one of the companies relying on generators in an effort to limit disruptions. "So, from a technical point of view, we have become more resilient to disruptions in Kyiv."
'We are still under attack'
Despite optimism from Shevchenko and others, there is still a sense of deep mourning. Many have come to the realization that a generation of Ukrainians and others in surrounding countries will carry the heavy toll of war.
"We're close to Ukraine, so we're always aware," said Kasia Fatyga, a senior consultant for Discover Financial Services based near Warsaw, about 480 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Fatyga's job has changed over the past year in a way that demonstrates how war can trample business relationships. She used to manage relationships with Discover Diners Club clients in Russia.
"That has stopped for obvious reasons," Fatyga said.
She was also working on a fintech partnership inside Ukraine with a firm that provides digital payments and e-commerce support, though that's been paused for now.
"In Ukraine, they're more focused on ensuring the banking system and businesses are working on a day-to-day level," said Fatyga, who added she hopes to resume work with potential clients in Ukraine.
During the past year Fatyga has volunteered with local rescue organizations to help Ukrainians relocate to Poland. This work has included finding transportation, accommodations and services for refugees. Close to 10 million Ukrainian refugees have entered Poland in the past 14 months, according to Statista.
"There has been a national uprising here in Poland," Fatyga said, referencing Poland's past as a communist country. It was once considered a satellite state of the Soviet Union. "This isn't the first time. We were also concerned in 2014 [when Russia annexed Crimea]. We have tried to do whatever we can for Ukranians. We in Poland also have a past with Russia."
Shevchenko, who has also worked for Visa and at one of Ukraine's largest banks, Oschadbank, said that there was talk of war before the invasion, but seeing the conflict unfold has still been a shock.
"We had to stop all of our projects and work to evacuate people from Ukraine," Shevchenko said. "We had plans to do this before the war, but nobody seriously thought it would happen. We were making small talk during meetings about the war. We hoped it would never happen so the atmosphere during work was pretty normal before."
Once the evacuations started following the invasion, the scenes around bus terminals, train stations, or even obtaining cab services, were chaotic, Shevchenko said. The airport was closed and not an option.
"Nobody really expected the war to happen and it was very hard for people to accept. Everything that could go wrong went wrong," Shevchenko said. "A lot of people that we were expecting didn't show up. And we were also trying to track down family members and pets. But a lot of people didn't want to go."
It took about five days to evacuate more than 100 families with ties to Lugera to Budapest and other locations. Shevchenko helped find spaces for people where they could live and work remotely until they could return to Ukraine. Lugera had worked with financial clients in Hungary, and many of these companies helped find accommodations for Lugera's staff. "At first our staff and families just brought what they could carry. They were coming out of bomb shelters and didn't even have luggage."
One year into the war, most of Shevchenko's colleagues are back in Kyiv.
"The first wave started going back in August. They wanted their kids to go to school as normal," Shevchenko said, estimating about 80% of the staff are now back in Ukraine and in the office.
Shevchenko started regularly traveling to Kyiv late last summer and has been able to track her country's progress. At first, the streets were empty and the stores were closed, and the normal sounds of a thriving, vibrant city — people, cars, honking horns — were all absent.
"At the shops that were open people were lining up to get food," Shevchenko said.
By the end of 2022, supply chains had improved enough, and the Russian army's advance had been adequately contained, to allow Kyiv to slowly resume its familiar churn. The city's residents proved to be down, but not beaten.
"We all understand now that this will take time. We are still under attack and can see the missiles and damage," Shevchenko said. "It's not going to be a matter of months, it may take longer than that. But the people I'm working with are super resilient."
'Basic freedom is gone'
Ukraine's financial infrastructure is now working properly after some challenges early in the war, said Oleg Sadikov, co-founder and CEO of Devico, a Ukrainian company that builds app technology for fintechs, payment technology firms and other businesses, mostly in the U.K. and European Union. Devico is another company relying on generators to support its offices and has accounts with three different internet service providers to ensure continuity.
"We're actually working more than before," Sadikov said. His firm is able to use digital payment rails to pay and present invoices and access other banking services.
Sadikov hopes for a boost in business from firms that invest in reconstruction. "People who didn't know much about Ukraine before know now," Sadikov said.
Sadikov remains upbeat following a horrible year. When the war started, Sadivok moved his parents from an apartment in Saltykova, a residential area in Kharkiv in the northeastern part of Ukraine, to his in-law's home nearby. Russian attacks ravaged Kharkiv, which was often without food and water during the war's early days.
"I saw dead people on the streets, ruined buildings that I used to visit in the past, exploded cars, and people screaming," Sadikov said. "We were constantly sitting in shelters, sleeping there in the cold. There was a lack of food in supermarkets, oil in gas stations and medicines in pharmacies."
Kharkiv became almost a dead city, he said. "There were areas of the city where only a few people lived. Not sure if you saw Chernobyl, but the feeling of Kharkiv was similar. It was a 1.8 million population city before Feb. 24."
Sadikov and his relatives stayed in a home near Kharkiv for about two weeks, then moved to the western part of Ukraine. The four-day trip was fraught.
"I stayed for a night in the house of a person I never knew before. He agreed to let us sleep in his house because we couldn't find any place. Everything was overbooked. He fed us and gave us a place to sleep in separate rooms of his house," said Sadikov, who now volunteers for organizations that provide similar services to those displaced by the war.
On the day before Sadikov left Kharkiv, a rocket exploded near the house.
"It was a nightmare. It's a scary sound when a rocket flies near you. You hear the speed of the rocket when it flies and then an explosion," he said.
Many Ukrainians have become familiar with the sound of air raid sirens and have learned to differentiate between the sound of Ukrainian soldiers responding to an attack and enemy fire.
"It's a scary experience and I don't recommend it to anyone," Sadikov said.
The war has also affected and displaced financial services workers with ties to Russia.
"Everything in Russia is closed for us now. Basic freedom is gone," said Vangelis Kondratevi, a researcher in Tbilisi, Georgia, for the San Mateo, California-based payment fintech Tipalti. "If I was in Moscow, it would be challenging for me to speak like this about what's happening there. I would have probably said no to this interview."
More than 20,000 technology workers have left Russia for the Georgian capital just north of Turkey since the beginning of the war. Overall, more than 300,000 Russians have crossed from Russia into Georgia, partly out of fear of military conscription and partly out of fear Russia would target people who did not support the war.
Kondratevi, who was born in Georgia, is half Russian and half Ukrainian. His parents migrated to Canada shortly after the invasion began. Before the war, Kondratevi had moved from Georgia to Moscow to do market research for a fintech he preferred not to name. But once the invasion began, he returned to his home country.
"My wife was pregnant and we decided to go back to Georgia to be on the safe side," he said, adding he started to work for Tipalti after the move.
Life in Georgia is not without danger. Russia occupies about 20% of the country, following its 2008 invasion, and people who have entered Georgia from Russia over the past year have faced some opposition from Georgian residents.
Still, it is far better to be in Georgia than Russia right now, Kondratevi said. Fears of reprisals and crackdowns in Russia abound for those who are opposed to Putin's regime, Kondratevi said. "As much as I would like to go back, I don't know," Kondratevi said, "Even if the [Putin] regime goes away, it doesn't mean that the threat has gone."
And Kondratevi has another reason to stay put.
"We have a 9-month-old baby girl, Sara, now," he said.
