Social impact projects are becoming increasingly crucial in responsible business activities, leading to systemic positive changes (not only in the physical space but also in individual and social consciousness). Viktor Ivanchyk, founder and CEO of Astarta-Kyiv, spoke about the principles underlying the ecosystem of his company’s social impact projects, why Astarta’s priority is to develop self-sufficiency (both in business and in local communities), and what civic awareness has to do with it.
What values does Astarta base its ecosystem of social impact projects on?
We have been working with such projects for over 20 years. At first, we did it intuitively, but later, we developed the company’s mission, vision and values, which we rely on in our work. Our purpose is to build a strong Ukraine and strengthen its credibility worldwide by unlocking and multiplying the land’s and people’s potential, inspiring society by setting an example of doing business on the principles of fair partnership, ethics and sustainable development. Our company’s value crystal lattice is based on humanistic principles. A focus on sustainable development distinguishes all of our social impact projects.
How did Astarta’s priorities in social impact projects change during the full-scale war?
It’s like in business: we build sustainable relationships and management processes when everything is going well. In difficult times, the laws of crisis management come into play: centralisation of decision-making and focus on urgent problems.
It happened at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and our efforts were focused on providing urgent charitable assistance. We helped people who remained in the frontline and temporarily occupied territories, supported local communities that hosted many internally displaced Ukrainians, and provided them with food and personal hygiene items. We also helped the military with vehicles, ammunition, special equipment, machinery, and medicines.
Later, when it became clear that the war would continue, we returned to a broader horizon of our social impact projects. We are currently focusing on helping communities develop their self-sufficiency and regional entrepreneurship. Our strategy is to invest in those capable and ready to be a change leader and benefit the community.
What are the key areas of Astarta’s social impact projects today?
We have always prioritised communities and their long-term social and economic development. Step by step, we have strengthened this component with new systemic projects. For example, in 2019, with the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine and Deloitte, we implemented the SMART Impulse project in the Volochysk community in the Khmelnytskyi region. We conducted a comprehensive diagnosis of the community, studied the needs of its residents, identified critical criteria for its transformation within the decentralisation framework, and developed a development strategy. This project can be used as a model for transforming other local communities.
The Wings project, which we run with Pact Ukraine and the Government of Canada to support women’s leadership and entrepreneurship, focuses similarly on economic empowerment and has already involved 400 women in the communities where we operate. They have received training, and more than 115 have also received financial support. I am convinced that women are a powerful driving force for positive and sustainable social transformation.
Also, in our projects, we always focus on fundamental things like Ukrainian culture, traditions, and national identity. All this impacts the formation of each citizen’s self-identification as part of an independent Ukrainian nation.
Let’s discuss the Resilience Centres project launched by Astarta and the Ministry of Social Policy. What are its idea and interim results?
Resilience has always been an integral part of Astarta’s business and team philosophy: to recover and develop despite difficulties, see opportunities in challenges, remain resilient, and unite to achieve long-term positive changes. In addition, we are good at working with communities, understanding their needs and requirements, and knowing how to unite them. In addition, it is also our responsibility, as we conduct our business there, our people, their families, our landowners – our key stakeholders – live and work there. Therefore, when the word ‘resilience’ started to be heard in the wider Ukrainian society in early 2023, our traditional focus on developing self-sufficiency became more relevant than ever. Luckily, the Ministry of Social Policy and our partners resonated with this idea and developed excellent cooperation.
As a strategic partner of the pilot project, we provide methodological, expert and financial support. In total, we have invested over UAH14m in a thorough study of the needs of various stakeholder groups, the development of a community capacity development model and a social impact assessment model, strategic communications, training of centre specialists, and the arrangement of twelve centres, which we continue to support.
For its part, the Ministry of Social Policy has taken an important step by convincing the government to fund this pilot project with UAH433 m from the state budget in 2024.
Today, the centres offer free comprehensive psychosocial support to strengthen mental health and emotional resilience. Special attention is paid to veterans, the military and their families. Parents can also improve their parenting skills, and children can enjoy quality leisure time.
For us, these centres are not just providers of resilience services. They are places where everyone can get help, provide it, or share their experience or competencies. They are places of attraction where people will come together for social interaction and long-term positive changes both in a particular community and in society as a whole. I really hope that these centres will be sustainable on their own, but in reality, everything depends on the people who will show their leadership, activity, and involvement there.
You cooperate with stakeholders, from local authorities to businesses, charities and international institutions. What role does partnership play in Astarta’s ecosystem?
I like Itzhak Adizes’s saying that partnership has two wings: trust and respect. It is impossible to build a sustainable partnership without respect and trust.
Astarta, among other things, partners with businesses in social impact projects. How do you choose business partners?
Most often, these collaborations are the result of sustainable business partnerships. Of course, in addition to good relations and trust, shared values are also important. It is precisely what happened with Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine, whose CEO Oleksandr Pysaruk and I have long been not just colleagues but also faithful like-minded people. In 2022, we, the bank, and the charity foundation Believe in Yourself launched the Brave grant project to stimulate small businesses, and in 2024, after seeing the results of the first waves, Vodafone Ukraine joined the project. As part of this initiative, we have already financed 167 entrepreneurs. We will launch the fourth wave in autumn.
The history of our other educational and grant project, the Course to Independence, followed a similar model. Our partner, the German development bank DEG, was among the first to offer us funds to provide food to people in the frontline promptly and temporarily occupied territories.
Subsequently, we shared with them our experience in implementing the Wings grant programme, and the bank, with the support of the German government, provided us with €4m over two years to support a wide range of entrepreneurs involved in agriculture, food production, and agricultural processing. At the end of 2022, we again cooperated with the Believe in Yourself Foundation and supported 60 projects with grants for equipment up to €12,000. In 2023-2024, we supported 110 more projects with grants of up to €20,000. In addition, they receive three months of training at MIM Business School, support and mentoring from Astarta experts throughout the year, and participation in various events to increase sales.
It is crucial for us that these businesses not only produce products but also bring social benefits to the communities. Therefore, the requirements for participants include creating additional jobs, official employment, payment of taxes, and transferring part of the products to food banks in the local communities where these businesses operate. While working on these projects, I was pleased to realise how many people in Ukraine have an entrepreneurial mindset and want to develop, even during wartime.
Small businesses are like the first green to grow on scorched earth. First, grass appears, then bushes, and then trees. This recovery takes place in layers and requires time, effort and readiness for change. Ukraine will recover from the war thanks to the strength of its citizens’ self-reliance, including entrepreneurs.
If we stick to this optic of gradual recovery, what is the key ‘layer’ now?
It has everything to do with building social synergy. The recipe is simple: take responsibility, develop your capacity, unite and support each other.
Remember that behind every peak we overcome, a new horizon opens up. And even when the path is difficult, look for the best route and strengthen your ‘bond’ with people of value and capability. And then we will overcome everything, win, and then rebuild.
Source: Forbes Ukraine. Photo: Artem Galkin