By Olha Chepil | 2026-02-24

Running a business in Kyiv once meant managing staff, inventory and customers. Now it means managing fuel, generators and blackout schedules. After renewed energy disruptions due to Russian strikes hit Ukraine's largest cities last month, small businesses in the capital are fighting daily to keep their doors open.

Unstable electricity and water supplies have forced many owners to focus less on customers and more on equipment and contingency plans, turning routine operations into constant crisis management.

"Blackouts have brought new challenges. The most important thing is to be ready for anything, to be adaptable. The business is basically surviving, and we're operating more by virtue of human resources," Diana Boichuk, director of a private daycare, told Kontur.

Manual work replaces routine

Extended outages force Kyiv businesses to improvise constantly. At the Kadryky private daycare, each day begins with starting the generator that powers heat, lighting, food preparation and classes. Staff check fuel at night; without it, the daycare cannot open.

"Every day brings something new. We never know whether the power will be on, and the outage schedules no longer mean anything. We spend more time without electricity than with it," Boichuk said.

Even brief interruptions cause problems. The building cools quickly, and staff must repeatedly refuel and monitor equipment to prevent breakdowns. Teachers and administrators handle the work themselves.

"We trained our teachers to start the generator and operate the panels. I personally go out in the morning with a canister and check to see what's what and to make sure everything is working,” Boichuk said.

Despite the cold and outages, about 98% of children still attend, giving parents a rare sense of stability.

"The most frightening thing is that the generator could break. So we always have a thermos of hot water and warm children's clothes on hand. We have to be ready for everything," she said.

The financial strain is growing. Fuel and electricity spending has nearly doubled, forcing the daycare to delay expansion and upgrades.

"Expenses have jumped from 7,000 to 20,000 hryvnia. In the past we would put that money aside for gifts for the kids, new furniture and celebrations. Now it all goes to fuel," Boichuk said.

Service businesses face similar pressure. Some salons have cut hours because generators cannot support multiple power-intensive services at once.

"The generators can't sustain hot water, heat and electricity at the same time. We have to rotate our work: first the manicure, then the hair color, then the massage. We can't do everything all at once because the generator can't handle it," salon manager Tetiana Vicheva told Kontur.

When electricity returns overnight, staff often come in late to prepare for the next day.

"When there's electricity at night, I come to the salon around 11 o'clock and turn on the heat so the walls and floor warm up at least a little. Otherwise you can freeze here during the day," Vicheva said.

For many businesses, outages now mean constant manual management where mistakes risk equipment damage or lost revenue.

Costs squeeze the market

The rising price of self-generated electricity has become a major burden. According to economist Oleh Hetman, coordinator of expert groups at the Economic Expert Platform, generator power now costs two-and-a-half to three times more than standard commercial electricity.

"The weakest ones are knocked out. It's easier to close for a few weeks than pay for expensive electricity," Hetman told Kontur.

Businesses often pass the added cost to customers.

"It's the consumer who pays all the extra costs," Hetman said.

Some restaurants and cafés have introduced generator surcharges, while bakeries, shops with refrigeration and food producers face the highest risks because their processes cannot tolerate outages.

For many small firms, investing in generators and backup systems determines whether they stay open at all.

Energy independence divides survivors

The restaurant sector entered 2026 with shrinking demand, said Olga Nasonova, head of Restaurant Consulting. January footfall in Kyiv establishments fell by nearly half compared with December.

"Looking at what's happening, I think that by spring the market could lose up to 20% of establishments," Nasonova told Kontur.

She said a small group of well-funded chains and premium venues continues to operate relatively steadily.

"Around 10% of establishments feel OK even now. They have customers, and there are problems, but they're not unprofitable. This is a very small percentage of the market," she said.

For the rest, survival depends on investment in generators, batteries, inverters and backup connections.

"Nowadays the guarantee of a business's survival is correctly calculated investment in energy independence," Nasonova said.

At the small-business level, that often means cutting costs and shortening hours. Kateryna Stepanchuk, a Kyiv barista, said her café’s generator runs almost nonstop but traffic keeps falling.

"We still have customers, but far fewer than before. The generator runs nonstop. We used to work until 9 p.m., but now we shut by 5 or 6. It's dark outside, and the streets are nearly empty," she told Kontur.

Even in busy districts, declining demand, cold weather and high energy costs are eroding profits. Many owners now face a choice between temporary closure and permanent shutdown.

"Everyone has the same problems right now. We need to survive the winter and wait for spring, then things will be better," Stepanchuk said.