It is July according to the calendar, but in Ukraine, it is still February. The news here always starts with the words “It is the 30th (60th, 100th, or 135th) day of the war.” Tens of thousands of Ukrainians died, both military and civilians, including women and children. The enemy commits war crimes on purpose. The goal is to intimidate us, break our spirit, and make us surrender.
Many businesses stopped functioning. Their main offices and production facilities were shelled. The malls, schools, kindergartens, and maternity homes also were not spared. Stocks of food and grain in the occupied cities are stolen and taken away to russia. There is a high possibility of a humanitarian crisis.
However, these inhuman deeds do not work like they are supposed to. Quite the opposite. Ukrainians show their heroism no matter what. Some went to fight the enemies. Others struggle to have their backs. Farmers sow the fields alongside the sappers, who defuse the explosives on the way. Whenever a brand disappears from the shelves of the stores, it is quickly replaced by an imported one or an analog. It is either owing to the help from abroad, for which we are thankful from the bottom of our hearts, or the efforts and bravery of the people and businesses in Ukraine.
How Did the War Influence Our Business?
The war had a heavy impact on us. We were able to resume our work on the 1st of April, and only one month later our team was in full. Unfortunately, that was not the only problem with the business during the war.
The war also affected the businesses of our clients. Some of our turnkey project contracts were frozen indefinitely. With other projects, we signed the agreements for design. Usually, there is a construction stage after the design, but the client is currently settled only for the design. In fact, it is still good for us because our team has work to do as well as we have the finances to pay our employees.
Fortunately, we have managed to complete a project for Epicentr K in Lviv. This company is one of the largest DIY chains of stores in Ukraine. The new store will be opened in August this year. Besides that, we renewed the work on two projects that were started before the war.
Where is the Team Located Now?
Most of the team members are men, and in accordance with Ukrainian legislation, they are not allowed to leave the country under martial law. Therefore, they are in Ukraine and work from Kyiv, from where they are actively looking for new projects.
When the war started, the team was in Ukraine (Boryspil, Irpin, and Kyiv). They were lucky enough to evacuate from the hot spots in time. After the cities were liberated from the occupiers, Subzero team members returned home. As for the CEO, Liubov Polovova is currently in Germany looking for projects in Europe and Asia.
How does Subzero Support Ukraine?
Our employees’ well-being was always our first priority. Giving them a job means feeding their families as well as supporting the Ukrainian economy. For this purpose, we are actively looking for new clients.
Besides that, a significant impact was made by our co-founder Konstantin Klyagin:
Info Campaigns
From the beginning of the war, Konstantin started the campaign #workwithukraine on social media. The main point of it was: “We need work, not charity.” The efforts were aimed at drawing as much attention as possible to the importance of working with Ukrainian companies and buying Ukrainian goods. For this purpose, he wrote numerous articles and had a lot of interviews with the media.
Recruitment
Another problem that needed to be solved is that a lot of Ukrainian professionals lost their jobs because of the war. Since Konstantin is also a founder of Redwerk and QAwerk, he makes everything possible to open more vacancies and hire these people. This point of the plan is closely tied to the previous one because Ukrainian companies need more projects to be able to provide the re-hired employees with the tasks.
Donations
Konstantin’s Redwerk donates ₴1 million per month on average. The goal is to send money to different funds each month, for instance, savelife.in.ua was chosen in the first month of the war, and prytulafoundation.org for the next month.
Besides that, a lot of help is aimed locally. Here in Ukraine, the info space of everyone is filled with the request of numerous friends and acquaintances to donate money for something like medicine for a local hospital, bulletproof vests for a local brigade, or humanitarian aid for the refugees.
It is important to mention the thing that Konstantin always highlights. Your charity will be worth much more if you report it publicly. Whenever you post how you help, you inspire more people to do so, and in such a way you start a sort of chain reaction of giving aid.
Refrigeration Association of Ukraine
Another thing about Subzero is that we are members of the Refrigeration Association of Ukraine, which we support with quarterly contributions. One of the initiatives of this association is to join the boycott of russia and Belarus.
Moreover, the association submitted its proposals to the Government of Ukraine regarding assistance with refrigeration equipment for defense needs. The members of the association help to protect Ukraine from the aggressor through volunteer work. These companies support the facilities that work in the cold chain on a daily basis.
As for now, the Refrigeration Association of Ukraine is negotiating with manufacturers of European refrigeration equipment to stop the supply to the country of the aggressor. This is vital because such pieces of equipment as heat exchangers or compressors are used in warships and other weaponry that requires cooling.
We #standforukraine, we #fightforukraine, we #workforukraine!
Why Work with Ukraine?
One of the most important things to understand about the work with Ukraine is that this call is never meant to be a request for charity. Ukrainians always were and remain to be a hard-working nation, and the request to work with us is a win-win strategy. It is because we are highly interested in providing high-quality services in order to get the returning clients. At the same time, having more projects allows us to pay the wages to our employees, pay taxes, and support the Ukrainian economy.
The goal of Subzero is to continue to work. The war exhausts the economy of the country, and therefore we do everything we can in order to stabilize it. As long as businesses are operating, we have food on the shelves of the stores, medicine in our hospitals, and other basic necessities, without which the situation here would become dire. Work with us, and you will make a great impact on the well-being of Ukraine.
