Despite the war, Ukraine's IT industry operates almost unwaveringly

Ukraine is at war, but its IT sector is operating almost unwaveringly. According to the IT Ukraine Association, as many as 84 percent of the companies there have retained the vast majority of their clients and contracts. Industry growth forecasts for 2022 are also optimistic. The association's research shows that 77 percent of Ukrainian IT companies have already acquired new clients during the war, and 56 percent expect growth of 5-30 percent this year. The industry emphasizes that the country remains open for business and even during the war can carry out technological projects for foreign clients. Statistics confirm this – in the first quarter of this year, the Ukrainian IT sector recorded exports that exceeded the statistics of a year ago.

"If you look at the numbers, the Russian invasion had little impact on the Ukrainian IT sector. In the first quarter of this year, revenue from the sale of IT services in Ukraine amounted to more than $2 billion, and companies there continue to provide services. They do it from basements, bunkers, but also offices in western Ukraine, Poland, or other European countries, among other places," Andrew Wrobel, founder and partner of Emerging Europe, said.

The IT industry has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Ukrainian economy in recent years. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, in 2019-2021 the value of IT services exports increased from $4.2 billion to $6.8 billion. Last year, this industry was at the top of the list of service exporters, generated more than 4 percent of Ukraine's total GDP, paid UAH 23.5 billion in taxes, and employed about 285,000 specialists, one of the largest pools of ICT workers among European developing countries.

(Newseria)