President of American Chamber of Commerce Hunder: American business believes in Ukraine
Every second company - representative of American business in Ukraine has suffered from Russian attacks, but they continue to operate and develop.
This was stated by Andy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce, during an extraordinary session of the Kyiv Security Forum on the situation in Ukraine's energy sector and economy, organised by Arseniy Yatsenyuk's Open Ukraine Foundation.
"54% of American businesses in Ukraine have suffered from Russian aggression. For example, McDonald's in Lukianivka, Kyiv, has had to be rebuilt seven times after shelling. But now it is working. Last month, I was in Mukachevo, where two Russian missiles hit an American business representative office. There were 600 people on the night shift, at 4.30 a.m. the air raid siren sounded, and at 4.37 a.m. there was an arrival. All employees are alive and the business continues. Every second company has suffered damage from Russian missiles over the past four years," he said.
At the same time, Andy Hunder noted that it is these American companies that continue to operate in Ukraine today that are the "best ambassadors for business."
"This resilience inspires others. We were invited by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, they asked - "tell us how business works during a full-scale war", because they also have a neighbour who does not agree with their existence. And here, the role of business is very important! After all, American business continues to operate and believes in Ukraine," he emphasised.
The president of the American Chamber of Commerce also noted that business is not only continuing to operate but also developing.
"McDonald's recently opened its 50th restaurant in Kyiv — on a day when there was no electricity in the capital. Why is business continuing? Because certain conditions have been created. If you look at the 25 sectors, one of the key ones that Russia wanted to destroy was the banking sector. Even before the first missile strikes, there were attacks on the banking system, but we managed to save everything and quickly transfer the data to the 'cloud', where Russian missiles cannot strike. These are companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Oracle. The banking sector is working flawlessly, which is very important for the economy," emphasised Andy Hunder.
