Oleksandra Yamshikova A Ukrainian entrepreneur based in Germany who had previously built businesses in Ukraine and Estonia had his European labor-placement company disrupted by the war. After relocating, he created Community, a non-profit and a business club that helps Ukrainian founders integrate in Germany, find first clients, understand taxes, banking, bureaucracy and scale. His work spans mentoring, acceleration, youth entrepreneurship, market access, diaspora networking, and practical support for resilient Ukrainian businesses abroad today amid the difficult post-war climate.
In this interview,Scott Douglas Jacobsenand Oleksandra Yamshikova discuss women entrepreneurship, Ukrainian business networks, diaspora support, motivation and Germany’s structured but tough market. Yamshikova contrasts Ukrainian speed, urgency and gender expectations with German stability, bureaucracy, confidence and control. He explains how Ukrainian entrepreneurs support Ukraine abroad, globalize their businesses, build community, and combine resilience with opportunities for future growth while dealing with credit barriers, cultural differences, and the challenges of integration in postwar Europe and across Germany.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Where do you usually see women going into business? Where do you see men?
Oleksandra Yamshikova: If we talk about traditional German business culture, it is mostly a male domain, for sure. Ukrainians have changed it a bit because, if you come to Ukrainian business clubs, you see a lot of women running businesses. In German business clubs, not so much.
The system in Germany is more stable if you work for someone else. You have a normal job, normal hours, and a safe life. You can get credit from the bank and have a reasonable, predictable life.
Entrepreneurs are crazy people, honest. You have to be a little crazy or stupid to go into business. I don’t even know why I got into business because it’s constant uncertainty. Every day, you don’t know if you will get money tomorrow. you don’t sleep well
You should become an entrepreneur if you really can’t live without doing it. It should not be because of money. You want to build something special, and you should feel that this exact thing must exist and you cannot live without building it.
I don’t know, because entrepreneurship is a very difficult life.
At the same time, community provides safety because everyone has the same problem. You need to find funding for your employees. You constantly deal with financial checks, taxes and regulations. You must always find clients, and clients are never completely happy. They are always complaining about something.
In a regular job, you work six or eight hours and then live a normal life. So, if you can’t live without business, you should do it. if not
Jacobsen: Do Ukrainians still feel connected to Ukraine and the war while in Germany and therefore send back what support they can?
Yamshchikova: Yes, absolutely. Of course, it is true that support decreases every year. That is the truth. We have annual events where we raise money for Ukraine.
We organize Ukrainian volunteer centers and support for Ukrainian needs. Once every year, we collect about €40,000–50,000 for those needs. I personally send support, but everyone does something. Some send machines, some send goods, some help in other ways.
Everyone is still doing a lot. However, with the passage of time, it started to decrease little by little.
Still, the Germans continued to find things to send to the Ukrainians: goods, supplies, and aid. There is still a lot of help, though less than before.
After the war broke out, Ukrainian entrepreneurs began to become much more global. My goal is to connect them all.
Next year, I’m thinking of creating something like a Davos economic forum to bring together Ukrainians from different countries and help them globalize their business. Ukrainian entrepreneurs around the world are becoming a global community everywhere.
Before that, Ukrainians mostly lived in Ukraine and almost nobody recognized Ukraine internationally. Sometimes when you said, “I’m Ukrainian,” people replied, “Ah, Russia.” Indeed, many did not recognize Ukraine as distinct. I remember very clearly.
Now, Ukraine has another problem: many of the best people are leaving the country. This will become a major problem as many smart people move abroad, build businesses and become part of a global entrepreneurial community that supports each other.
At this point, for me, it doesn’t matter whether I fly to London, Berlin or Spain. Everyone travels, everyone connects, everyone shares information. Ukrainians are becoming global entrepreneurs.
It is becoming a Ukrainian business diaspora. From what I read in the research, Ukrainians feel that, in this situation, they must achieve something. We have many motivations. I believe Ukrainians will build many big businesses across Europe.
At this point, what most of them need is a little helping hand: investment, advice, support and partners. What I try to do is help them survive the first three or four years in business because, once they survive that period, they start to grow.
Jacobsen: Chancellor Friedrich Marz recently spoke of the need to do more. In other words, the Mediterranean-style lifestyle, so to speak, is not sustainable, especially with Germany’s aging population.
Yamshchikova: Yes, of course.
Jacobsen: Ukrainians seem to be more motivated by trauma or migrant experiences than the internal population in general. How quickly do they begin to exceed the economic potential of the local population, coupled with the work ethic?
Yamshchikova: Motivation is the hardest thing. I think it develops from childhood. This is the most important and the most difficult thing.
If you talk about Germans, many of them are not strongly motivated because they already have a very stable life. They don’t face the same pressures or uncertainties. In Germany, people don’t always have the same urges.
Germany is already losing ground, especially in digital industries. In America, there are now more opportunities, though not so easy. A major difference is access to credit and debt.
In the US, banks often run after you to give you loans because the system supports entrepreneurs and even if you go bankrupt, there are protections that allow you to start over. That system gives people opportunities. You can come up with almost nothing, build a business, contribute maybe 10% and then the bank finances the rest.
In Germany, it’s different: no money, no credit.
In schools, I noticed that the system focused more on structure than motivation. They teach structure very well, but business is about creativity. In business, you often don’t have conditions ready for you. You have to make something yourself.
Ukrainians are highly motivated by their situation, not because they are naturally different people, but because they have come through difficult circumstances. They have to grow, rebuild and start again from scratch.
They bring a high level of service and speed of work. If you combine Ukrainian flexibility and motivation with German structure and Germany being more open to change, it can become very powerful.
Right now, Germany is also facing challenges with AI and regulation There are many GDPR regulations and many restrictions. Information and data require your permission, legal consent and authorization everywhere. In Ukraine, it’s easy. In the US, it’s even easier.
Jacobsen: On the Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine ranks better than Russia and other Eastern European countries, although perceptions of corruption across the region are still considered problematic.
Yamshchikova: yes Corruption exists in Ukraine.
Jacobsen: In this region generally, many countries struggle with it. Germany, however, is generally considered far less corrupt. At the same time, Germany tends to rank fairly high on measures of gender equality, while many Eastern European countries rank lower. Does the concept of corruption and gender equality play a role for women who want to do business or business in general?
Yamshchikova: I understand that corruption is everywhere. I understand that there is corruption in Germany too. Ukrainians often think that everything in Germany is completely clear and completely based on trust, but this is not entirely true. Corruption exists there too, though not at the same level.
If we talk about gender, in Germany there is a lot of discussion at events about supporting women and promoting gender equality People constantly talk about how women need more support.
Personally, I never use that approach, and I don’t really understand how it works because many women complain that men make decisions informally, go out for beers together, network and make deals that way, and women feel left out of these circles.
For me, it’s very strange because, in Ukraine, we don’t really distinguish these questions in the same way. If men go to drink beer and discuss business, women also go and discuss business. Ukrainian women generally fight at the same level as men. We have that mindset. We always work at the same level. No one gives us special opportunities or easy jobs. That is impossible. In Ukraine, everyone is used to cooperating with women.
But it’s more difficult for me to understand it in the German environment because I don’t have much direct experience with it. I mostly live inside my own bubble, which is Ukrainian and business-oriented. I have not worked for any German company.
I sometimes think it would be interesting to try working in a German company and feel what that experience is like But I never did because I don’t have time for that kind of experience. There is always something else to choose from because I have 24 hours in a day. So, I don’t really have experience in traditional German companies.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Oleksandra.
–
Scott Douglas Jacobsen A writer-editor for this Good Men Project With over 1,800 publications on the platform. He is its founder and publisher In-Site Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343; 978-1-0673505) and its editor-in-chief In-Site: Interview (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332-9416), humanist (Print: ISSN, 0018-7399; Online: ISSN, 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK registered charity 1177066), Humanist perspective (ISSN: 1719-6337), A further investigation (substack), vocal, moderate, New lighting project, Washington Outsider, rabble.caand other media. His bibliography can be found through the index Jacobsen Bank In-Site Publishing has more than 10,000 articles, interviews and republications in more than 200 outlets. He has held national and international leadership roles within humanitarian and media organizations, held several academic fellowships, and currently serves on several boards. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations including Canadian Journalists Association, Penn Canada (CRA: 88916 2541 RR0001), and Reporters Without Borders (SIREN: 343 684 221/SIRET: 343 684 221 00041/EIN: 20-0708028), and others.
***
If you believe in the work we’re doing here at The Good Men Project and want a deeper connection with our community, join us as a Premium Member today.
Premium members can watch The Good Men Project without any ads. Need more information? A full list of benefits is here.
–
Photographed by Oleksandra Yamshikova
