- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to Oleksandr Kosovan, CEO of Kyiv-based MacPaw, on how he’s growing his company despite the Russian invasion.
- The big story: Russia is happy with recent events.
- The markets: Low drama, so far.
- Analyst notes from Apollo on recession chances, Goldman Sachs on global credit, and Wedbush on Nvidia.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. For Oleksandr Kosovan, the CEO of Kyiv-based MacPaw, the worst-case scenario for his software business is for his country “to be forced into a deal that will make no sense for Ukraine,” arguing it will give an “exhausted” Russia time to regroup and scale up the war.
After Friday’s tense White House meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fears are running high. But Ukraine’s economy and tech sector have been remarkably resilient. Its economy grew 3% last year, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which just revised down its forecast to 3.5% growth in 2025.
Kosovan says his 500-person company continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace than before Russia’s 2022 invasion, and he is investing in Ukrainian startups through his SMRK venture fund as other sources of capital dry up. “We continue to innovate and build products.” That doesn’t diminish the tragedy of the 10.6 million Ukrainians who’ve been displaced or the tens of thousands killed so far in the war. When I spoke with Kosovan last week, however, he reinforced my perception that his country’s cities and companies are damaged but far from destroyed. It would take Russia more than 83 years to take over Ukraine at its current rate of advance, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.
Still, there’s no question Ukraine’s business leaders face daunting challenges, from traumatized employees and damaged property to postponed projects and the extreme volatility of everyday life. Kosovan moved his wife and children to Spain and has 200 of his employees outside the country. “We went from growing 40% a year to around 5%,” he says, adding that he’s expecting better growth this year but “tariffs could have a significant impact.” [Other CEOs echoed that concern in our recent roundtable on Globalization 2.0 with BCG’s Matthias Tauber.]
Kosovan wants the world to know the depth and strength of Ukraine’s tech sector. He even commissioned a book called Innovation in Isolation: The Story of Ukrainian IT from the 1940s to the Present. It will be available March 4 on Amazon. Ukraine companies are “experimenting with new technologies on the battlefield that can help improve the security of other nations,” he says. “Like natural resources, this is like only the tip of the iceberg.”
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com.
