I’ve just relocated to Kyiv, Ukraine to support economic recovery in the midst of the war, by financing small businesses and
small-scale agriculture.

Ukrainian households have lost income and life savings due to displacement, loss of employment and the destruction of homes and businesses. Both returnees and those who remained in liberated areas are ready to rebuild and restart their businesses, however the market is still very disrupted by the war.

The adverse impact on the agriculture sector has been felt worldwide. Smallholder farmers and others within the ag sector used to employ more than half of the population and have not yet returned to pre-war production levels. Yet there are small glimmers of hope for enterprises to start rebuilding and restarting.

I’m working with VisionFund to provide access to credit to  support small businesses and farmers rebuild their livelihoods  and rebuild the local economy. I’m grateful for the time at Columbia and SIPA, to provide a framework in economics and finance, and the Harriman Institute for both the depth and breadth of understanding of the political economy of the region. I finished the program with a focus on international economic policy and still remember a paper I wrote about the introduction of the Ukrainian national currency, the Hryvnia, in 1996.